| EPISODE ONE The short man took two steps forward and laid his palm flat against the wall. �It�s a house.� The woman in blue moved to stand beside him, careful not to touch, and let her eyes lose focus, looking inside instead of out. �No. It�s an image.� There was the slightest note of surprise in her voice. The man turned and regarded her with hard eyes. �It can�t be. We�re standing in it.� �Nevertheless. It�s only partly here.� She met the steely stare. �We�re only partly here.� Silver watched the ritual with interest. �Is this usual, or is it a show for my benefit?� Grey eyes nailed him while blue eyes shone for him. He shivered a little as the brief touch ghosted over his mind and he smiled. The two operators turned from him in unison, back to the wall, which apparently warranted further investigation. She ghosted her fingers over the wallpaper. //Do you feel it?// //Yes.// //?// //I don�t like it.// Sapphire glanced at her partner. Sometimes his honesty � as pure as she�d ever known � astounded her. //Why not?// She made her mind-voice gentle, a personal question as much as it was a professional query. He didn�t answer, his thoughts hidden from her as he�d been taught. As they�d all been taught. //Steel?// Ignoring the question he turned, walking away from her and starting up the narrow, steep staircase. �What year is it?� he called back, knowing she�d be behind him. He didn�t know about Silver. He didn�t care right at that moment. �Turn of the century, I think. Although� there�s something not quite right.� The stairs turned back on themselves and he carried on up to the small landing. �Which century?� �Beginning of the nineteenth. But like I said�.� //What�s wrong?// She smiled slightly at the question in her mind, stopping close to him on the landing. She glanced at the stairs continuing upwards to their right and the two doors leading off, one in front of them and one to their left. //This place doesn�t exist.// �I wish you�d both stop doing that.� Silver�s complaint met them as he stopped halfway up the stairs. If they wanted him to hear them they could speak to him, in voice and in mind. But they were keeping to themselves, closer than he�d known them to. Closer than on previous occasions when he�d worked with them. He wondered to himself; was this jealousy? Steel smiled down at him diffidently. �Sorry.� He reached for the knob of the door in front of them and pushed it open, stepping inside. Sapphire followed and a moment later Silver heard her intake of breath. He took the rest of the stairs two at a time and stopped to peer over her shoulder. �What?� All he saw was a room. Two chairs were facing one another over a small, round table in front of a burning log fire. In one corner a workbench, chemicals, Bunsen burners, test tubes. Against the bench, a violin case. On the mantelpiece letters, papers, matches. In another corner, loaded bookshelves. And in the third, a table set for two. The d�cor fitted with what they�d seen so far. Nothing overtly shocking, Silver thought to himself. But Sapphire obviously had a different point of view. //What is it?// //Steel� they�re trapped�.// //Who are?// //I don�t know� two of them� two men. They were here�// //Where are they now?// //I don�t know�.// Silver stepped back, lifting his hand. �Sapphire?� Steel�s reach was lightening fast. He snagged Silver�s wrist, catching it before he could touch her. �No.� Unaware of the aborted unconscious attack on her mind, she continued. //They�re in pain, Steel.// //What kind of pain?// //I don�t know.// Blinking, she turned her head, stared at him. �They�re not real.� As if bewildered by her words, he stepped passed her, back out onto the landing, belatedly letting go of Silver�s wrist before he went. The second man rubbed his flesh with his good hand; Steel�s grip had been like a vice. �Thank you,� he muttered, watching the silent communication between his companions. They weren�t actually talking at that moment, when they did he could feel it � a buzzing in the air, like static � but they were still speaking in a language all their own. He envied that; envied them both the partner and if not friend then at least comrade they�d found in each other. Moving, Steel reached for the knob of the second door. As his fingers touched the cold metal he froze. The whispers he heard were not Sapphire or Silver. They were coming from a distance but he couldn�t pinpoint the origin. There was something wrong. Were they actually only in his imagination? He spun, glancing quickly from her to him. They hadn�t heard anything, he could tell that simply by looking at them. But he asked anyway. �Did you hear that?� Sapphire automatically assumed he was talking to her. So did Silver. //Hear what?// This time she broadcast the question for both men to hear. //Whispers.// //What did they say?// //�I don�t know.// Aware he was being as helpful as he�d considered Sapphire to be only moments ago, he tried harder. �Male voices. Only� I might have imagined them.� �What makes you think that?� He hesitated. �The sound� felt wrong.� Glancing at her apologetically, or what he hoped was apologetically, he beckoned her to his side with his eyes alone and indicated the doorknob. Reaching for it once again he touched it as her fingers stroked over his own, resting between them on the metal. But this time there was nothing. Silence. �Just a doorknob,� she told him with a quick smile. �You don�t believe me.� His tone took them all by surprise. �Sorry.� Turning from her, he pushed open the door and looked inside. It was a bedroom, about half the size of the living room. The d�cor was simple, definitely in keeping with the rest of the house. A metal bed frame with a narrow mattress and one pillow stood along the wall to his left, taking up the majority of space in the room. Opposite, a narrow dresser with a mirror and some personal effects � comb, pill box, oddly some sort of slipper next to which lay a syringe. A small fireplace next to the dresser was unlit. A window looked out but it was too dark to see what was beyond. A second door to his right seemed that it would open out into the living area. Nervous, but unsure why, Steel stepped across the threshold. The voices were no longer whispers, they were screams. His hands flew to cover his ears but it didn�t help � the sounds were inside his head, not outside. With a cry of his own he bent double, his mind on fire. He knew nothing of the swift rescue until he was out on the landing again, shaking and panting, his hands being drawn down from his head gently while concerned blue eyes questioned him. �Steel?� He looked at her, thankful beyond belief. But for a moment he couldn�t speak. //Steel?// He yelled out as the white-hot fire drove through his tender mind. �Don�t,� he ground out through gritted teeth, �please.� �I�m sorry,� she released one wrist and stroked the hair at his temple softly. �I�m sorry. Come and sit down.� Carefully she led his still-trembling form through into the living room and sat him in one of the chairs by the fire. Crouching in front of him, aware of Silver looking on from the doorway, she rested her hands on his knees and watched as he closed his eyes and leaned forward, head in his palms. �What happened?� He took a deep breath. �I don�t know. I could feel them screaming, as if they were in that room but not. Something� linked me to them.� �Who are they?� She parroted his question from before. He lifted his head and looked around gingerly. �They lived here.� �And now?� �Now� a part of them is still here but they�re not.� �Where are they?� He glanced at her. �They�re nowhere. They don�t exist.� Silver turned from the two operators in the living room and started up the second flight of stairs. Just one set this time. The landing was just as small, and once again there were two doors off it, one in front of him and one along the landing to his right. The one in front was a bathroom. Toilet, sink and a harsh metal tub. He remembered reading somewhere about outside privies and wondered if an inside toilet was in keeping with the times. Still pondering, he walked along the bare floorboards to the second door and pushed it open. A second bedroom, much like the first except for something odd. Books � or rather, what looked to be hand-written journals - covered much of the bed and dresser, all of them open. Cautiously stepping inside, he reached for the closest one and picked it up. As his fingers gripped the paper, it crumbled through them, turning to dust before his very eyes, scattering on the air. �How very odd�.� Fascinated, he touched the end of the bed, wrapping long fingers around the metal frame. It was cold and remained in tact. It was real. Meaning� the books weren�t? Crouching down next to the bed he read what was on an open page of one of the journals, being careful not to touch. �A difficult case to be sure. And a painful one in many ways. Now we are home we will do as we desire. So much happens that isn�t recorded in the official versions I write. As I�ve written so many times before, and will no doubt write again, we would be destroyed � both of us � if it was ever discovered what we were doing behind these doors. The law is brutal. He has no time for the police, of course. But the thought of gaol frightens even him as it terrifies me. No one will ever find out, this we have sworn. We will take our secrets to the grave.� Frowning, Silver rose to his feet and stepped out of the room, heading back downstairs. In the living room, Sapphire was sitting in the second chair. She was watching her companion intensely and for a moment Silver wasn�t sure whether they were talking or not. He made his mind up no, they were just sitting. Steel still cradled his head in his hands and Silver found a slither of sympathy for him. �Are you all right?� he asked as quietly as he could. Sitting up slowly, Steel looked directly at him. �Yes, I think so.� Silver wasn�t immediately convinced. The other man was unusually pale, and tremors were still obviously working through his slight frame. Ignoring the fission of worry in his mind, he asked, �What were you told?� It was Sapphire who answered. �About what was happening here?� �Yes.� �Just that there was a hole in time and we were needed to fill it. I assume that�s why you�re here.� He nodded vaguely. �Right.� �Silver? That is why you�re here, isn�t it?� He nodded again. �Yes, oh yes.� He paused. �Would you mind� coming with me. For a minute or two? I have something to show you.� Sapphire reached out, touched Steel�s hands where he�d clasped them in his lap. �Stay here.� She followed Silver up the stairs and he led her into the second bedroom, indicating the journals and telling her what had happened when he�d tried to pick one up. He knew she would do the same. And it had the same result. Another sprinkling of dust on the floor of the room, on the bare boards and the old rug. Moving forward, she peered at one of the journals that lay open on the dresser. �What do they say?� �It appears to make up a diary, I think. The one I read seemed to speak of a crime that the writer and another were committing or had committed and were pledging to keep a secret between them.� Sapphire read the closest page. �He�s a fascinating man. Full of insight yet ill equipped to deal with the very society he so loves to reduce to deduction and observance. I wonder now if anyone other than myself would stand to live with him, for his habits are unusual and his work brings him in at all hours of the night. His playing aside (although with practise I can tell that he might be quite good) I enjoy his company and am satisfied with the turns my life has taken.� She went to turn the page and it turned to ashes in her fingers. Silver raised his eyebrows at her bright, broadcast expletive but said nothing. Moving her hands behind her back, she tilted her head to read another page in another book. �I was wrong about him in so many ways, and yet right in a few scant, important details. His playing just needs an audience as I found to my pleasure this evening. The terrible aching in my head had not cleared since lunchtime and so when he started to make sounds similar to a cat in significant pain, I was forced to make my way downstairs to request silence. The moment I opened the door, his style changed completely. He began a quiet Mozart piece, one which far from scraping my nerves soothed them. I sat and rested while he played to me, lulling me with each new piece of music. When I woke, he was sitting across from me sipping from a glass of wine having eaten supper! I�d slept through the whole affair! Of course I apologised, but he would hear nothing of it.� �Why do they turn to dust?� Silver pondered aloud, breaking the spell of the journal pages were weaving with their story. �They�re not meant to be here,� Sapphire guessed. �When we touch them we break whatever time bubble is keeping them here.� �So they belong here in space but not in time?� �I don�t know. I�m speculating, that�s all.� �What have you found that�s so interesting?� Sapphire and Silver turned to see Steel standing at the top of the stairs. He looked drained from the mere act of climbing them as he leaned heavily on the wooden banister. �Journals,� Sapphire told him with a smile. �Only they don�t seem to belong. Whenever we touch them, they become dust.� Recovered, Steel took two long strides across the landing. �Are any of them open? Can you read�.� His words became a scream as he stepped inside the room. ~ EPISODE TWO �What have you found that�s so interesting?� Sapphire and Silver turned to see Steel standing at the top of the stairs. He looked drained from the mere act of climbing them as he leaned heavily on the wooden rail. �Journals,� Sapphire told him with a smile. �Only they don�t seem to belong. Whenever we touch them, they crumble into dust.� Recovered, Steel took two long strides across the landing. �Are any of them open? Can you read�.� His words became a scream as he stepped inside the room. �Steel!� Sapphire�s shocked cry barely scratched the wall of sound pressing in on Steel�s mind. The pain that he�d felt as fire in the first bedroom was so much worse here. White-hot shards of agony pierced his every thought until his only escape was to claw at his eyes to release the pressure inside his skull. He was unaware that he was making a sound, but the cries that were being torn from him were terrible to hear. Silver leapt at him, capturing his wrists and forcing his hands from his face where he�d already started to draw blood from deep scratches around his eyes. Once captured, Silver started to bodily force him out of the room, backing him out onto the landing, not caring if he stamped on a foot or crushed a toe. These body parts didn�t belong to Steel, didn�t mean anything. Just his mind. Sapphire was the only one who could stop whatever was happening. Moving behind Steel�s thrashing form, she clapped her hands to the sides of his head and concentrated, pushing the inhuman pleas from her thoughts and ripping into his mind, searching for whatever was attacking him. She saw swans. Just an image, she reassured herself, one his brain had attached to the emotion of fear after the attack by the Time Entity outside the time capsule somewhere in their history. Or possibly their future. There were hundreds of birds now, all pecking at his neural pathways, screeching as they pulled at him, tearing neurone from neurone. Sapphire flung herself at them, knowing she was hurting him, knowing she was being too brutal but knowing also that it was her only chance. She was his only lifeline. Outside, he was desperately trying to get his fingers into his eyes. He clawed and scratched at Silver�s hands, leaving deep red welts, now and again cutting through skin to raw flesh beneath. Silver detached himself from the physical sensation of pain and watched, frightened for both his companions as the silent mental battle went on under the awful screaming. Cold and beautiful she reached for the birds. Every one of her thoughts became a shard of sapphire so sharp they slid easily through feather and flesh. Swans died and vanished. At first more came to replace the dead. Sapphire never tired. She stabbed and sliced at the white, screeching mass. She drenched herself in the blood of the birds, fighting for Steel�s life inside the very core of what made him. Despite everything she did, the destruction she wrought upon them, they didn�t once turn and fight back. But neither did they cease in their unending attack, tearing at the vulnerable, unguarded mind. Then, after an eternity, gaps began to show in their lines. The weakening gave Sapphire the renewed strength she needed and with a mental cry she dragged the razor-sharp slithers of her self through a line of swans, cutting deep into them, dismissing them quickly, depleting their numbers savagely. Suddenly, with no warning at all, they all vanished and silence surrounded her. Silver caught Steel as he collapsed. Sapphire retreated from his mind as gently as possible, leaving behind chaos, leaning hard against the banister, her heart pounding, her head aching. She could only watch as Silver lowered Steel�s unconscious form to the floor. Silver ensured that he kept his ward out of the bedroom, following him down until the man�s damaged head rested on his leg. Sapphire too slid down to sit on the floor -boards, leaning against the wooden posts, assessing Steel�s condition but unable to do anymore for a while. There was blood running in small but steady streams from Steel�s ears, nose and from the corners of his eyes. Taking his handkerchief from his pocket, Silver dabbed at the thick red liquid until it slowed then stopped and started to dry. They sat for a long time, waiting, healing. Silver peered back into the bedroom now and again but saw nothing that might give him a clue about what had attacked the operator. Glancing back at Steel, he eased a couple of strands of silken hair behind his ears and watched the rise and fall of the man�s chest. When he looked over at Sapphire for the fourth time, she managed a smile for him. �Better?� he whispered. And she nodded. �What was it?� �Fear, I think. Not his. Theirs.� Her tone worried him. �Theirs?� �The men I sensed in the living room. They were in his mind, but not in their true forms.� �What did you see?� He kept his voice low. She hesitated. �Swans.� It took a couple of minutes to explain and her voice seemed to rouse Steel. He opened his eyes, sticky with blood, and took a moment to work out where he was. Everything hurt. Silver�s hand was still absently keeping his wayward hair from the blood around his ears and for a few long moments Steel just savoured the soothing contact. �Steel?� Sapphire leaned over and stroked his cheek with the backs of her fingers. She smiled when he next opened his eyes. �Welcome back.� He swallowed, unsure if his voice would work, surprised when it did. �Thank you.� Hesitantly, he tried to sit up. Silver gave him a hand, steadied him as he pulled his knees up and leaned forward to find his balance, wrapping his arms around his legs and dropping his forehead carefully forwards. Neither Silver nor Sapphire spoke. Silver�s hand remained where it had steadied Steel, rested now on his back, just below his right shoulder. They gave him time. He would need lots of it. �I have a headache,� Steel declared finally into the space between his chest and his legs. �You will have,� Sapphire told him gently. �You need to heal. You should go back.� Steel raised his head and Sapphire looked into his bloody face. �Back?� �You need to.� �I�ll be all right.� �It was a vicious attack, if it happens again it might�. It could kill you.� Silver listened to the exchange with deepening concern. Glancing down he saw Steel�s blood on his trousers and although these bodies were mere forms, their minds were what made them. Would they cease to exist if the mind died? What would the consequences of their deaths be? Could they even be destroyed? He unconsciously tightened his fingers on Steel�s shoulder and the man turned to look at him, red eyes questioning. Silver said nothing, but fetched a clean handkerchief from his suit pocket and handed it to Steel. �You might need this,� he offered. Steel accepted it, wiped the blood from around his eyes and mouth. �Thanks.� �Don�t mention it. The very least I could do.� He grinned, keeping up the act they both expected from him. In the past it had been Sapphire who paid him the attention. But her mind was on Steel now and his wellbeing. And Silver could hardly blame her. Steel, however, was still regarding him thoughtfully, as if this time he wasn�t buying the old, familiar lies. Eventually, though, he turned back to her without further comment. �I�m staying. Whatever�s here, I�m sensitive to it.� �Sensitive to it?!� �Yes.� //You call this sensitive?// The moment the words touched his brutalised mind the pain in his head magnified exponentially and he almost completely failed to bite back his indignant shriek. Kneeling up quickly, Silver put his arm around the trembling man, one hand on each shoulder, keeping him upright, pressing the heat of his body to the chilled back. �Stop it!� he yelled at Sapphire. But she�d already stopped. The words had been spoken to prove a point but she feared she�d gone too far. Reaching out, she touched his hair where it had fallen back across his face when he�d bowed his head in pain. �I�m sorry,� she murmured. He took several deep breaths before lifting his head. Red tears were falling from his eyes. �Please don�t do that.� �I am sorry.� He swallowed and nodded, feeling Silver at his back, not minding the pressure at all, a part of him enjoying the warmth. �We know the living room�s safe, I�ll stay in there until we know more.� Sapphire looked as if she was going to argue her point but finally she nodded. �All right.� It was another ten minutes before Steel was able to get to his feet, even with Silver�s assistance. Carefully they descended to the first floor of the house, leaving Sapphire up in the second bedroom. She stood in the centre of the small room, focusing beyond this time, on the past and the future, searching for whatever had attacked Steel. But she couldn�t sense anything. The place existed but something within it did not. That much she�d fathomed minutes after her arrival. They were somewhere that existed only within given parameters. It didn�t make much sense now but once they worked out what those parameters were it would enable them to work out what to do. Unfortunately that was Steel�s domain and she wasn�t sure he was going to be able to work in this house. She realised that she had no idea why Silver had been sent. He was an engineer, he dealt with gadgets, physical problems that needed to be solved to get them to where they needed to be. But if she was sure of anything it was that the house itself was stable. Something inside it was in flux. Letting out her breath slowly and evenly, she went deeper into the dark surrounding them. Steel stepped into the living room and stopped. Silver walked straight into him. �What�?� �Look!� Steel was staring at the two empty chairs in front of the fire. All Silver could see was two empty chairs in front of the fire. Steel gazed at the two men sitting there, knowing they belonged there in some fashion, knowing that in another, they didn�t. They were dressed in the right style for the period. One was tall, lanky. He was sitting back in his chair, his legs crossed, foot bouncing in time with a private rhythm. He was smoking an elaborate pipe, the smoke curling up in front of his smiling face. The second man was shorter, which would have made him � Steel guessed � average height for the time. He had a beard, heavy eyebrows and his smile was sparkling. There was a cigarette between his lips from which he took a long drag before plucking it away. They were speaking to one another. Their lips were moving, but Steel couldn�t hear the words. There was no sound. �Silver?� he whispered urgently. �What?� �You don�t see them?� �Who?� Steel took a step forward. �Wait.� Another step forward. Silver hovered behind him, unsure whether to touch him, remembering how he�d been stopped from touching Sapphire earlier when she�d zoned out on them. Silver didn�t quite understand that. Engineers didn�t need many mental skills. They had other talents, usually twice as useful because of their practicality. Operators fixed anomalies in time. Engineers got them in and out. �Steel�!� Silver whispered harshly, still unsure about disturbing him but wanting nothing less than to watch his companion start bleeding again. �Steel!� Nothing. There was nothing. Sapphire couldn�t sense anything malevolent or malicious. What she did feel was a deep affection, a warmth emanating from the very foundations of the house. Usually she was the receptive one. She was the one to communicate. She drew the entities, she fought the mental attacks. She had the defences. Not Steel. She knew better than anyone or anything how open and vulnerable his mind was. Silver believed they kept him out when they spoke without the use of their voices, but it was Sapphire who provided that privacy. If he wanted he could step into Steel�s mind as easy as she could. But here she had opened herself by degrees until she was completely accessible to whatever was in this place. And nothing had touched her. Nothing had spoken to her. Whatever had attacked Steel was either gone or was hiding from her. Why would it hide? Reaching out, Silver touched Steel�s shoulder with his fingertips. In front of Steel�s eyes, the men faded from reality. He blinked but they were gone. And his headache was back with a vengeance. Swaying slightly, falling back for a moment onto Silver�s steadying hand, Steel reached his hand to his head and crossed to sit down in one of the chairs the two men had just vacated. �You didn�t see them?� he asked quietly, willing the throbbing pain in his head to stop. Silver perched on the edge of the other chair. �No. I saw two empty chairs. These two. What did you see?� Glancing up, Steel set his jaw. �Two men dressed in period clothing, sitting where we�re sitting now, talking.� He described them, each one, pulling details from his perfect memory. �Are they the same two Sapphire heard talking?� Steel considered that. �I don�t know. Possibly. Two men shared these rooms.� He looked around. �This is the anomaly. They�re the anomaly. They�re out of phase with their own time.� �You think this is their time?� �They belong here.� �You said they don�t exist.� �I know.� �Sapphire said this place doesn�t exist.� �I know.� He closed his eyes for a moment, sitting back in the chair. A moment turned into seconds, into minutes. He shifted, suddenly startled by a touch to the side of his face. Opening his eyes he saw Silver standing over him, watching him carefully. �What?� The other man sat back in his chair. �Just checking. We don�t usually sleep.� �I think my mind�s healing.� Silver nodded. �Right. Sorry.� Smiling, he stood. �Think you�ll be all right for a while?� His question was met with a wry smile. He nodded again and left Steel to recover. Sapphire met him on the stairs. She didn�t say a word, just checked Steel was still sitting in the living room and opened the door to the first bedroom. This time she did feel something. A shiver. The ghost of a touch to the back of her neck as she stepped inside the room. �Steel saw them,� Silver told her, �sitting where he�s sitting now.� �Did they speak to him?� �No, he couldn�t hear them, only see them.� �Images,� she explained. �Not real. Just�.� Downstairs, the front door opened. They glanced at one another, Sapphire following Silver quickly out of the room and down the first set of stairs, peering over into the hall. The door closed and an elderly lady called out, �Morning, Gentlemen!� ~ EPISODE THREE Downstairs, the front door opened. They glanced at one another, Sapphire following Silver quickly out of the room and down the first set of stairs, peering over into the hall. The door closed and an elderly lady called out, �Good morning, Mr Holmes!� They watched her as she placed her bags onto the ornately tiled floor, removed her hat and scarf to hang them on a stand close to the door, and shrug off her coat. //Silver?// //I see her.// Picking up her bags, the portly woman started toward the bottom of the stairs, looking up, straight through Sapphire and Silver before she vanished in front of their eyes. �Don�t tell me, she doesn�t exist either.� She flashed a smile at him. �No.� �But why can we see her and not the two men?� Her smile faded. �I don�t know.� Gracefully, Sapphire descended the stairs to the hall, walking to the front door. She felt nothing out of the ordinary. She reached out, touched the lock of the door and turned it. Nothing. The door wouldn�t open. �Go to the window in the living room,� she instructed Silver, �tell me what�s outside.� �A road and houses,� he responded without moving. �How do you know?� �Because that�s what I saw when we were first in there. I remember quite clearly.� �Check again, please?� He sighed. She sounded more and more like Steel each time they met, he thought to himself. At least she said �please�. Walking back up the stairs, he crossed the landing and the living room to lean on the windowsill. At first glance he�d been right. Below him was a busy street. A couple walked arm in arm along the pavement. A man with a dog bade the couple good morning. Two horse-drawn carriages passed one another in the road. Across from them was a similar row of four storey terrace houses, a mirror image of the row they were in. Silver groaned to himself. A mirror image. Literally. In the window directly opposite him, he could see himself leaning on the windowsill staring out at the street. �Sapphire?� He felt someone behind him and turned, surprised to see Steel standing at his shoulder. He jumped a little but recovered quickly and pointed outside. �Look.� �I�ve seen it. Nothing�s real out there.� �So were are we?� But he wasn�t looking for an answer. He knew it already. �This place doesn�t exist. Got it.� //I�m worried, Steel.// Sapphire slid a hand over his shoulder but broadcast her mind voice to Silver as well. //I don�t know what�s outside if what we�re seeing isn�t there.// //Can you get out?// //No. The door won�t open.// //Let me try.// He moved out from between Sapphire and Silver, heading out of the room. //Steel, wait!// He was already on the stairs, taking them with his usual bouncing step. //What is it?// //A woman. Down there. There�s a woman. I think she belongs�.// Her words were cut off. For a moment her mental link to Steel was thrown wide open and she saw the raw state of his mind. And the third attack as it was launched upon him. The surging pain caused her to break her connection with him in self-preservation. Furious with herself, she screamed his name mentally but she knew he wouldn�t hear her. Dashing down the stairs she met him halfway. His back was against the wall, head dropped forward. His body was trembling subtly but he wasn�t making a sound and that scared her more than his screams had the previous time. She carefully put her hands on his shoulders, not wanting to break his concentration if he was fighting this thing she couldn�t see. �Silver!� She called up to him but got no response. //Silver!// Next to the window in the living room, Silver stared out over the street that wasn�t there. Neither was he seeing it. At the moment of the attack, Silver had clung to the connection that Sapphire had broken away from. His first thought on the spur of the moment had been to help Steel fight off his unseen attackers. But too late he realised that he didn't stand a chance. He didn't have the skills of an operator. Basic communication by their own brand of telepathy was the limit of his psychic abilities. When the cold fire swept through his mind, he knew he'd made a terrible mistake. He didn't feel Sapphire's hands either side of his head. Didn't notice her fingers combing through his hair with infinite gentleness. Standing behind him she closed her eyes and stepped into the turmoil of his mind. His link to Steel was wide open and raw. She followed it easily, gathering her own defences around her as she entered the burning chaos of Steel's mind. This time, she didn't try to fight. She could feel her partner all around her, his own mental shields up as he drew on the skills he'd fathomed over millennia to battle the enemy attempting to tear him apart from the inside out. For now, he was succeeding in keeping the attack from the core of his self. Instead of fighting, Sapphire tried to communicate. Through the blinding pain, Steel reached desperately for coherence, for understanding. But he was failing and he was weakening. Whatever was here, in this place, knew somehow that he would be the one to destroy it. In turn, it was attempting to destroy him and in this battle, it was winning. Nothing so subtle as an image this time, no swans, no fear even. //Who are you?// she spoke directly to the presence in Steel's mind, the part that wasn't him. She heard the echo of his silent, mental scream as her voice added to the pain but it couldn't be helped. //What do you want?// Another scream, this time overwhelmed by a whisper. //we want to live// //Why are you doing this?// As she spoke she heard her name, Steel's plea for her to stop. But she couldn't. //this one means to kill us// //We were all sent here. Why him?// //he has the method of our deaths he must die// She paused before asking, //Where are you?// //we are here// Here. Saaphire reached for her partner. He knew as she did. Sacrifices had to be made. The thought, the idea flashed through her mind. Linked through Silver, he caught it, saw it. And panicked. //NO!!!// Using a strength he didn't know he possessed, Silver broke the link with Steel, at the same time casting Sapphire out of both their minds. She staggered back, reeling from the unexpected force of his actions, grabbing at the table next to them to steady herself. Steel slid down the wall. His legs giving out from under him, he landed hard on the bare stair. He lowered his head into his hands but remained silent. At the window in the living room, Silver took several deep, long breaths. Then he turned. Cold blue eyes were staring at him. She was furious; he didn't need her to speak to know that. She didn't speak. After a few seconds, she smiled, her eyes warming a little. She nodded once, as if something had just made itself known to her. Then she turned and went to check on her partner. Crouching next to Steel, she stroked her hands over his shoulders, down his arms. Leaning close, she pressed her cheek against his, her lips touching his smooth face. �It�s all right,� she whispered softy. �It�s all right.� Under her hands she could feel him shaking. �You were going to kill him!� Sapphire looked up at Silver where he stood at the top of the stairs. Never before, on any of their kind, had she seen the expression she saw then on his face. "He knew, Silver," she told him gently, "he agreed." Turning back to Steel, she threaded her fingers into his fine hair. "I'm all right," he told her after a few moments. Lifting his head with some effort, he gazed up at Silver. "We're all dispensable." "You want to die?" Silver couldn't keep the inexplicable anger from his voice. "Of course not. But if I must, I must. There would be another. I'd be replaced." Shaking his head, Silver turned from them and headed back to the second floor, needing to be away from them. He stepped into the bedroom and looked around at the journals. Then he sat himself down on the floor, facing the bed, and started to read all the passages available to him. "Why did he stop you?" Sapphire sat back, smiling at Steel, sad at the pain and confusion in his eyes. "He cares about you." He frowned. "What?" "It's hard to describe. He wants to use you." "For what?" She glanced away, a smile playing on her lips. "He should be the one to tell you." "Sapphire...." His low warning tone had never had any effect on her before and it didn't sway her now. "It's not important." She studied his face for a moment; the blood shot eyes, the strain showing around his eyes and mouth. "You won't survive another attack." "If I can get them back into my mind, you can destroy them." "I'd have to destroy you too." "I know. But if it's the only way, you have to do it." Reaching out, Sapphire stroked his arm, "Silver's not the only one who doesn't want you to die." Her confession brought a smile to his lips. "Thank you." �A remarkable man. He twines the threads of truth with the skills of a seamstress. No crime, however mysterious, remains a mystery for long. And while some may accuse him of removing all magic from life, I know the reality to be quite different. Living with him is an experience I could not have hoped for in my wildest fantasies. Knowing him makes my life all the richer. And I hope I contribute to his existence in some small way. I wish to be more than just his Boswell.� 'Today must be recorded here, for nowhere else in history will it be celebrated. My friend, the man who had come to rule my every waking hour and haunt me in my dreams, has become so much more. Even here, I dare not detail what we have done. Save to say we love one another, as a man may love a woman who shares the desires of his heart.' Silver stretched one tingling leg out in front of him, muttering under his breath about the fragility of 'these damnedable human forms'. Leaning forward, twisting his neck, he found another open page. �To be angry or sad, relieved, baffled? I do not know what to feel. Anger would have been healthy I think. He left me believing him dead to me for three years. So much pain, so much bitterness. And now a part of me wants to protect itself and be rid of him, satisfied to know simply that he lives. But in my heart I know that will never be enough. It never was enough. I need now what I needed then. Had he known, would he have left me? The memories of Reichenbach still haunt me.� He found them where he�d left them, talking quietly. Leaning on the banister, he crossed one shin behind the other and folded his arms. For a moment or two he watched them. Of all the elements, they were the two the others were jealous of. They had been assigned to Earth because there was life. They were the safe ones. If a little unconventional at times. They had each other when the rest of them wondered and worked � for the most part � alone. A very long time ago, before this assignment, before Steel, Silver had worked closely with Sapphire. They�d been friends, companions. More, sometimes. On their plane, everything was different. On the stairs below, Sapphire was wiping the dried blood from Steel�s face with his handkerchief. Silver smiled to himself. She still looked at him with the memory of the pleasure they had given one another. But now it was different. Now Steel came first. Was this jealousy? Would Steel ever consent to him? Silver sighed softly. He seriously doubted it. �I know what�s happening here,� he declared finally. �I know who they are. And I know why they�re here.� ~ EPISODE FOUR On the stairs below, Sapphire was wiping the dried blood from Steel�s face with his handkerchief. Silver smiled to himself. She still looked at him with the memory of the pleasure they had given one another. But now it was different. Now Steel came first. Was this jealousy? Would Steel ever consent to him? Silver sighed softly. He seriously doubted it. �I know what�s happening here,� he declared finally. �I know who they are. And I know why they�re here.� Carefully resting his head back against the wall behind him, Steel stared up. �Well?� �Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson.� The way Silver spoke, it was as if the names were supposed to mean something. Steel glanced at Sapphire as she retrieved the data. �Sherlock Holmes � a fictional detective created in the late 1800s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr John Watson, also a work of fiction by the same author. Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes adventures for a London news sheet called The Strand.� �Fictional?� Steel shook his head. �That can�t be, they lived here. I�ve seen them!� Silver smiled gently and started down the stairs to join them. �Sherlock Holmes was so popular that he became a legend. He lived� in the imaginations of Conan Doyle�s readers. We�re not in the early 1900s, are we Sapphire? The year is 1982.� He sat down on the edge of the step up from them, watching Sapphire�s face blank for a second as she tried to pinpoint a date. �I don�t know,� she admitted finally. �Listen, the both of you have been saying this place, these people, don�t exist from the moment we all arrived here. You were right, they don�t exist.� �But we�re inside,� Sapphire pointed out. �Yes. I think we�re in a re-creation. I don�t think Time has broken here. I think reality has.� Dropping the red-stained handkerchief, Sapphire slid her hand into Steel�s, holding his fingers, rubbing them gently. She didn�t take her eyes from his face when she spoke. �Then why are we here?� Steel regarded her for a long time. �I was told�.� He hesitated. �I was told I�d been sent here to die.� Sapphire�s fingers tightened. Silver looked from one to the other, mouth open. �What? No� you must have been mistaken!� Grey eyes met his own. �It�s the only way, Silver.� �No. You don�t have to do this, we don�t have to do this.� He tried to think. �They never lived. You can�t die for something that never lived.� �Silver�.� �I won�t let you.� It was an arrogant statement, he knew. �In the journals upstairs� they�re Dr Watson�s journals and they talk about the two of them being lovers. But they weren�t � not in the books, not in the fiction. In their time, in Conan Doyle�s time, for two men to engage in� well, it was against the laws of the day.� They both stared at him. �So. What?� �I don�t know!� He sounded desperate even to his own ears. �But� it�s as if they have lived here. They�ve taken on a life of their own, don�t you see? Somehow� they�re fighting to survive and why shouldn�t they? They haven�t done anyone any harm. There are no real people here. There�s just them and us.� �We can�t leave it like this,� Sapphire explained patiently. �It�s wrong.� Silver thought that through, throwing his hands up. �Then let the reality experts handle it. You two deal with Time.� Steel smiled. �We�re multi-talented.� Silver�s next sigh was one of defeat. �What are you going to do?� He saw the too-human gesture, Steel nibbling nervously on the inside of his cheek. �Oh, no. No. You�re committing suicide because they told you it�s what you�d do!� �Silver, it�s not�.� �Of course it is!� �They won�t let me leave.� The murmur overrode Silver�s shout. "And I won't let you die." The silence stretched between them until Sapphire broke it. "Then we do this together." Steel nodded. "Where?" "The first bedroom." A tiny smile touched her lips. "Sherlock Holmes' bedroom." "Why there?" "Because what I felt in there was a strong affection, a warmth. Maybe... love." "All right." But it was hesitant. Silver rose, starting back up again to the first floor. Sapphire helped Steel to his feet, sliding an unnecessary arm around his waist. For a moment, they didn't move. "If you don't come back... I'll miss you," she told him carefully, looking at their feet. He didn't look up either when he said, "They'll replace me." "It won't be you." Another pause, then they started up the stairs together. When they reached the first bedroom, Silver was standing just inside the door, rubbing his palms together. Creating. "The instant I go in there it's going to attack again," Steel told them with absolute certainty. "Yes," Sapphire agreed, "but this time we'll be ready for it." Silver opened his hands and showed them the faint blue glow sitting in his left palm. "All you have to do is send them back through the tear," he stated. "Then all I have to do is close it." "Right." She saw the fear flash momentarily in Steel's boyish features and squeezed his arm gently. "Ready?" "No. But let's do it anyway." Silver stepped back as Steel stepped forward into the room. The pressure in his mind was sudden and excruciating, like a vice around his skull. Every breath was fire in his lungs. Every thought was a razor edge slicing into his mind. So he stopped breathing. So he stopped thinking. He stopped struggling. And somewhere inside him he made the decision to trust Silver and Sapphire to bring him back. To save his life. He accepted the ghosts of Holmes and Watson into his mind as he opened himself to Silver and Sapphire. He let them flow through his head, let them see those things he'd seen, share the experiences he'd had. He entertained them with the memories of the easy years of upbringing and the rough times he'd had as an operator. He kept them rapt with recollections of joy and pain. And carefully, without them noticing, he started to inch them towards the rip in reality they'd slipped through. Sapphire watched all of this. She watched Silver as he waited by the hole in the fabric of reality. The light - the seal he�d made - held with infinite care between his hands. She watched Steel bait the lost souls who had never existed with the truth of his own existence. And as they neared the place in his mind that he'd made the doorway to another dimension, she smiled to herself with pride. Then it darkened. //They know!// She by-passed Steel, sent the words straight into Silver's head. //It's too late - they're too close.// They were. Steel had already guided them to the tear. The pull of it was too great. They fought then, claws of rage striking out blindly, ripping into Steel's mind in a frenzied attack he couldn't hope to protect himself from. Sapphire and Silver surged forward. The darkness focused on her, lashing out, trying to ride the connection between the operators into her mind. She screamed, breaking away just as the furious presence of Holmes hurled itself at her. The force of it threw her across the room and she slammed hard into the connecting door. She reached up to try the handle but it wouldn't open. //Get them through!// Silver put the order directly into Steel's mind and reeled from the violent shudder of pain the communication caused the operator. In the room, the door slammed itself shut just as Steel stumbled back against it. Escape impossible, the battle was inevitable. In his mind, Steel reasserted himself against the alien presences of Holmes and Watson. He struck out at them through the red haze of agony, driving them back towards the opening. Silver reached for them, managed to get a hold of Watson and drag him back, throwing him through the tear as hard as he could. Steel was weakening quickly and as he turned, he saw the bright core of the element pulse once. //No!// This time the backlash hit him hard. He thought he heard a faint call of 'stop' pressed into his mind but he couldn't think straight enough to confirm it. Watson dispatched, Silver pulled himself back together and moved forward, reaching for Holmes, seeing the darkness now, knowing it was far from being the detective brought here by the power of imagination and belief. Holmes' black energy screamed - a high-pitched sound of anger and terror - and threw itself over Steel, swamping the fading energy, smothering it, choking the life from it. //Silver,// he heard Sapphire's calm voice in his head, //end it. Destroy him.// He ignored her, made a grab for Holmes and started to pull him away with //Silver! Do it!// //No!// Focusing his entire being, he yanked hard. The darkness flowed back and he flung it with all his strength at the hole in Steel's mind. //Seal it! Now!// He didn't have to be told twice. Taking the light from his hands into his flesh, he transferred it to his mind and threw it over the rip in the fabric of reality. Steel collapsed and Silver followed him down, panting hard for breath. Leaning in, he rested his forehead against Steel's and curled his hand around the back of the other's neck, thumb and index finger cradling his skull, caressing gently the hairs at the base of his scalp. "It's over," he told the room in general. "It's over." Steel came around slowly. His head felt as if his skull had been smashed in with something heavy and blunt. His mouth tasted coppery. Of blood, he realised. There was something warm on the back of his neck. Gingerly, he opened his eyes. He was propped up between the wall and the end of the bed. Next to him, Silver was sitting close, one hand still cradling the base of Steel's head. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. "Sleeping." Steel moved only his eyes to see Sapphire crouch down in front of him. He smiled, hoping it wasn't as gruesome as he thought it probably was. "I'm still here." "Only just," she murmured. "Silver refused to let you go." "Thank you." She lifted a hand to the side of his head and touched his hair, smiling warmly. "You need to rest. It's safe now. I'll watch over the both of you until you're ready to leave here." "And where is here?" "A museum now, nothing more." He nodded and closed his eyes again, feeling Sapphire's lips touched to his. Then she moved away. Steel reached out and found Silver's left hand. Threading his fingers between the other man's, he settled back to sleep. |