New Challenges
by Tarlan
Rated: E
Pairing: Ryan Simms, Sliders
Disclaimer: I'm sorry I don't own him but I won't be making any money out this.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
He had seen her on the television when the lottery winners were announced and had been impressed by the pleasure suffusing her face as she spoke her name into the camera. It was the look of someone who was taking a lot of pleasure in playing the game rather than worrying about taking a gamble with their life. It struck him as odd and yet, at the same time, he felt slightly in awe of her. When he saw her enter the ballroom, clad in shimmering silver, it did not strike him that she was beautiful or sexy; not that she couldn't be all of those things to someone, but there was something far more attractive about her. She had that same look of wonderment on her elfin face that had intrigued him. She was on the arm of gentlemen who looked old enough to be her father and with only a few short hours until they was scheduled to make way, what he also saw in her was a last chance to grab a little extra happiness. He assumed she would be equally happy to take advantage of her last few hours.
Ryan Simms glanced around the ballroom once more, just to make sure he was not passing up a better opportunity, but the other women seemed to be already involved with loved ones.
Ryan pursed his lips as he watched all the others talking with friends and lovers, realising that, of all of the winners, he was the only one standing alone. His rush to feel the adrenaline racing through his blood had left him little time to cultivate friendships and, with a start, he realised that this may be his one and only true regret. In another few hours he would make way, and what did he really have to show for his life? What legacy was he leaving behind? Would anyone even remember his name in another month's time?
Taking so much money from the lottery machines had always been a risk but he had needed it to provide him with the equipment required for the various adventures he had undertaken. He had made goals for himself - and had achieved them. He had climbed Everest and he had swum the English Channel; he had even paddled along the Amazon and all before his thirtieth birthday.
Ryan looked down at himself for a moment, his fingers finding the white card that had given him anything he desired. They had made sure his last day was incredible and he had enjoyed himself immensely, but it had all been overshadowed by his impending death. It was not that he was afraid to make way, quite the contrary. After all, he had faced death deliberately on more than one occasion in the course of his travels. The problem was that there was still so much more he had wanted to do before that final curtain call. There were other mountains to climb, other rivers to follow; so much more to see of this world.
He sighed in resignation to his fate. At least he could go knowing that he had not wasted any of the life he had been given - which brought him back to the pretty girl.
Her name was Wade Wells and, knowing time was growing shorter, he pushed himself forward boldly whereas before he would have hesitated and taken it slow. Moments later she was in his arms, and they danced, talking freely, knowing there was little time for coyness and finesse.
Ryan knew from the moment Quinn Mallory stepped into the ballroom that there was more than just friendship between Mallory and Wade, and he was not surprised when she went off to speak to the man. Ryan gave another quick glance around the ballroom, wondering if he ought to spend his last few hours more wisely. No doubt, if he whispered a request into the Lottery host's ear, he would have a beautiful woman brought to his side in moments, but the idea of having a bought companion for his last hours did not settle easily within him. It seemed better to make one final play for Wade Wells.
The night air was far cooler than either of them expected but it was worth losing his jacket to have Wade alone with him, although he was getting more confused by her by the minute. Since her talk with Mallory, she had become terse and frightened, and he knew instantly that she was no longer happy with her fate; he knew that she did not want to die.
He was a little taken aback when she started giving him some fantastic story of wormholes opening through parallel dimensions and he wondered, for a moment, if she really believed what she was saying to him. When she started talking about escape, of avoiding her responsibility, Ryan became afraid. He checked over his shoulder when he heard the sirens of the Lottery Police, hoping they had not come for her - or worse still, for him, for listening to her words.
Didn't she know? There *was* no escape. Others had tried to in the past but eventually, even if you managed to get away from this complex, they hunted you down relentlessly. Subverting the Lottery was the worse offence any person could commit in this world and the penalty was to be put through the Process. No person in their sane mind would court such a slow and tortuous death. If he had to go then Ryan far preferred to feel a gentle slide into the forever sleep; rather that than being made to pay with days of pain before being granted an agonising death.
He walked most of the way back to the ballroom but paused just outside. Eventually there would come the time when each of them was expected to do their duty - to make way - but Ryan found he did not want to go to sleep alone, or in the company of strangers. Although he had known her for only a few short hours, he felt a connection between him and Wade. Perhaps she would not be so afraid if he was to take that last journey by her side. Perhaps he would not be so afraid either.
The sirens continued to wail and curiosity got the better of him. He was drawn closer to the scenes outside, wanting to see what kind of people would be against the Lottery. Ryan waited in a darkness breached only by the flashing red and blue lights of the police vehicles and was strangely unsurprised when, some time later, one of Wade's friends was led out in handcuffs. He had seen the way Brown had looked at Julianne Murphy, and he wondered whether Brown had been foolish enough to tell her the same fantastic story that Wade had told him, to offer Julianne the same choice of life.
Ryan stepped further into the shadows, hiding behind a pillar as he heard Wade's voice approaching, not quite ready yet to face her again. She stopped close by and Ryan overheard the emotion-filled words that passed between her and Mallory.
Could it really be true? Could there be an escape route? Or was Mallory as delusional as Wade?
Ryan manage to slip away from his own personal guards, making his way towards the now darkened ballroom. He pulled back, quickly finding a place to hide when he saw the Lottery Host approaching with one of the Lottery police. He knew Wade had hidden herself in the ballroom as ordered by Mallory, in some belief that this wormhole would open there. The sound of her dog barking gave her position away and moments later he could hear her being dragged, forcibly, across the ballroom.
Ryan made a decision and grabbed the nearest implement that could be used as a weapon; a fire extinguisher, using it to strike the guard on the back of the head. Another thrust and the Lottery Host lay unconscious at his feet too. He gave Wade a look tinged with fear. All he could hope was that she and her friends were not under some delusion because a painful death awaiting all of them, including him, if that were the case.
With less than a minute to go on the timer held in Wade's hand, they all raced back into the ballroom, hearing the sounds of the Lottery Police close behind. Wade extended the device out in front of her and Ryan froze when the air started to ripple in front of him, eyes wide in shock. He watched as she and Brown leaped into the wormhole, their bodies disappearing instantly. The dog and the professor followed. Indecision swept through him. He had resigned himself to making way but here was a chance to live. Should he take it? What if a fate worse than death lay beyond this vortex?
"Go!"
Mallory yelled at him, and gathering his courage and a deep breath, Ryan leapt into the strange anomaly, knowing that what lay ahead of him was a true challenge, a leap of faith into the unknown.
He felt as if he was falling, his body twisting and turning. His senses overloaded with colors and smells then, just as suddenly, he was falling through air, landing hard, face first upon soft green grass.
About him were the others who had gone before, and another body hurtled out of the wormhole behind him, landing heavily.
"WOW!! That was unbelievable!"
He looked at Quinn, only just realising that he had escaped from certain death. Quinn gave him a strange look, then Quinn's eyes rolled back - and he collapsed to the ground.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The bullet was lodged quite deep and it was a devil of a job to remove but Ryan knew he was the only one of them who could make a difference here. He bound the wound tightly and spent the next few hours doing his best to keep Mallory's temperature down.
Eventually, he left the others with the duty of hovering over their friend, allowing them care for him. Ryan took a long walk with Wade, letting her explain all about the years they had already spent sliding from one dimension to another, hearing the sadness in her voice as she described their attempt to return home. He knew immediately that sliding from dimension to dimension was not a life he wanted, even though it carried its own attractions and challenges.
There was still one more day before the wormhole reopened and Ryan decided to use that time wisely, taking stock of this new dimension. He managed to exchange his clothes for more practical jeans and t-shirt, grateful this dimension used the same currency as his own. He also bought himself a rucksack, filling it with practical items that would come in useful no matter whether he decided to stay here or slide with the others.
The more he discovered about this dimension, the more exhilarated he felt. This was a whole new challenge, a whole new reality to be explored. He wondered how much of it would be identical to what he left behind - and how much would differ. Could there be another Ryan in this parallel dimension? Would they have anything in common, or would their backgrounds be so dissimilar that all they shared was the identical face and body.
He had seen enough to convince him that it would be worth taking a gamble, knowing that any decision to stay would be permanent as there could be no changing his mind later. He knew Wade would never stay with him but he felt obliged to ask her, wanting to give her the chance to decide whether to carry on sliding or staying here with him. The look in her eyes as she gazed down at Quinn told him all he needed to know. She was in love with the man and, fool that he was, Quinn never even realised it.
That night Ryan decided to make it easier on all of them and he slipped away. He watched from a hidden vantage point as they opened the wormhole, saying a silent goodbye to the people who had given him a second chance at life. Ryan felt a moment of doubt as the wormhole snapped closed behind them but then, shrugging the rucksack over his shoulder, he gave the empty air one last glance, turned and walked away, his mind already turning to the new challenges that lay ahead.
FIN
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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