Days later, at the very edges of dawn, Alex and the older Gabe watched thousands of gallons of water from Niagara Falls rush past them.
They had snuck into the observation area carved out of the Cave of the Winds. The spray misted Alex's hair and face and Gabe's muzzle.
"This is a fairy tale," Alex said. "Waking up with you every morning, falling asleep with you every night."
"Everything I endured has been redeemed," Gabe said. His twisted hand rested on top of Alex's.
"Same for me." Alex slipped her arm around Gabe's waist and squeezed him briefly before releasing him. "I wouldn't mind flying through Niagara Falls this morning." Alex leaned over the railing to watch the magnificent display.
"Are you crazy? The water's freezing, it's not dawn yet, someone might see you." Gabe placed a restraining hand on Alex's shoulder.
She smiled and patted his muzzle in that way that meant she wasn't going to listen to him. "No one will see because no one is up this early, the sun is coming up, and with my slipstream in place, I won't feel the water."
Before she could slip under the railing, a portal appeared, but the edges of this one roared with fire like a rocket.
"Enter to save him or give up your Guardian sword now," the Portal Guardian's voice commanded.
They both knew she meant only Alex in the strange mental way the Portal Guardian sometimes used.
"Who's him?" Alex's hand gripped Gabe's arm so hard that her knuckles were white.
"Gabe's son."
Alex leapt into the portal without a second's hesitation. Gabe startled as he watched Alex disappear.
A normal portal flashed in front of him and he entered it without hesitation. He didn't see Alex, but his brothers, on the other side, in a room of their safe house.
"What have you done?" the Portal Guardian demanded in a shattering voice that filled the room.
She reached from floor to ceiling and even her light seemed angry, shooting blue fire into their eyes so they winced and squinted. Her wings fanned in irritation and she flashed from human to draconic even faster than usual.
All three brothers fell to one knee and bowed their heads.
"I sent my Guardian Alex to you for protection, for healing, not for you to take advantage of her."
"Portal Guardian, please, I love Alex..." Gabe started.
"Love? I am not a matchmaker! I do not send my Guardians to worlds for love, but for war, a mission, or for protection and healing! The war intensifies, The Adversary gains strength as I lose worlds and you dally in bed?"
The voice crashed louder, sharper. "She came to you traumatized, a decade younger than you, and that very night you share a bed with her and dare call it love? I strip you of your Guardian status."
Gabe's hide grayed and he slumped. The Guardian sword at his side vanished.
"Portal Guardian, please! My brother is honorable. He does love Alex." Rile stepped toward her.
"Silence! I'll deal with you last. Cale, did you lose your tongue? Your mind? You didn't see fit to say anything? That was not the way of the Creator of All."
"I failed, Portal Guardian." Cale's greenish gold hide paled as well.
"You also are no longer a Guardian. You must devote yourself to the study of the priesthood full time."
"I understand." He watched as his own sword faded from view.
"This is insane." Rile spoke up again. "We all love Alex in our own way. We made her part of our family."
"Speaking of family, you shall now be a father full-time. You too are relieved of your Guardian duties. Think on your failures and how to improve yourselves. You have the next generation of Guardians to raise and instruct. Dismissed for now. I will send you to your home world when I have time and energy to spare."
Rile withdrew his sword and held it as it vanished. The Portal Guardian flared blinding white before vanishing. Rile and Cale gathered around their grieving brother.
*****
A/N PART B will start below
I tried to show that the Portal Guardian is furious and doesn't fully understand emotions. I'm afraid she just came off as bitchy. What do you think?
PART B - Picture of fringed gecko above
***
Alex would have liked to have known exactly where the portal had dumped her, but she wasn't so lucky. The sun was low on the horizon and she felt the darkness would give her cover.
She flew recon until she saw a city. As she flew closer, she realized it was InterSpec City.
After a few passes, she saw Zilik's graceful apartment building. She thought a moment and then speed burst down to the first floor windows. She peeked in one and her first guess was wrong, but on the second try, the pictures perched on every nook and cranny were familiar.
Zilik moved among them, picking them up and gazing at each. She tapped on the window. He looked over and dropped a picture in surprise.
"Quick, inside!" He flung open the window and she climbed in. "What are you doing here?"
"The Portal Guardian told me to save Gabe's son and sent me here. Where do we start?"
"Gabe's son?" Zilik rubbed his muzzle. "I assume you mean by Cla."
"Unless he screwed some other reptilian females I didn't know about," Alex snapped.
"Screwed?"
"Sorry, slang term for sex. I'm being petty and nasty. Yes, by Cla. Where's their son?"
Zilik placed his hands on each of her shoulders and gazed with sympathy into her eyes. "It's just a rumor, Alex. No one has ever seen male children by Gabe. Don't poke sleeping reptiles."
"I plan on poking female reptiles with pointy sticks," Alex said, the Monty Python reference popping up in her brain. "If the Portal Guardian says to save his son, then there is one and I plan on saving him. Where is he and who would have him? Cla's miserable toadies like Mina? Or the new Kuni? And what do you mean male children by Gabe? He has daughters?"
"Where are the others?" Zilik peered behind her, clearly changing the subject.
"They didn't come this time."
Are they lost to me, all of them, on both worlds?
Her heart told her that they were.
Why did the Portal Guardian send me alone? Will she send me back home with Gabe's son? Gabe's home on Olam or back on Earth? Where's home now anyway?
Alex could feel a headache building as her heart fluttered in anxiety and Zilik drew her into a hug.
"I missed you," Zilik said quietly. He tried not to hope for too much, but was elated that she was alone. Her tone spoke volumes.
"I missed this world," Alex said in defeat.
No, no, no. I want my Gabe. I want to go back.
Alex mournfully accepted his hug and both turned at the sound of a gasp. Alex blinked at the sight of a female Chameleon standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
"It's her," she whispered in disbelief.
"Uh, Nikka, this is Alex."
"I already know quite a bit about her. I'll leave now. There's no point in competing with a living legend."
"Here I go again: spreading joy and wrecking homes." Alex released Zilik and backed against the wall, wary gaze on the female Chameleon.
"But Nikka..." Zilik's voice trailed off.
"It isn't like that," Alex added, unaware that Zilik was very much hoping it was 'going to be like that.'
"It doesn't matter. Things are about to become very complicated around here. Call for me when everything's settled. Assuming you will still want me and I'm still available. I wait for no male." She walked into the bedroom and reappeared shortly with a small case.
"Nikka, I'm sorry."
"Don't, Zilik. See you." She swept out the door.
"I'm the one who's sorry, Zilik." Alex put her hand on his shoulder.
So very, very sorry. Will I ever see my Gabe again? Maybe I can die rescuing Gabe's son and be done with it all.
"It's okay. It wouldn't have lasted. Two Chameleons form a lasting bond when they want children and we weren't at that point."
Alex nodded. "How's Razz?"
"Fine. He's hung onto his council seat and no one's assassinated him yet."
Alex frowned at him, forehead creasing in worry.
"Sorry, poor choice of words. I should tell you that Cla's still alive."
"What!? Gabe ran her through with a sword. How do you survive that?"
"He missed the heart."
"She probably didn't have one," Alex said.
I'm sure of it.
"The medics treated the collapsed lung and she survived. She was in InterSpec prison for awhile until her government had her extradited home."
"That settles it. I'm here to kill Cla, too."
"Are you sure?" Zilik braced for an outburst. "Wouldn't the others have come along if that was the purpose?"
Alex looked about to object, but apparently thought better of it. Zilik would have preferred an outburst to the defeat that settled on her shoulders.
"Let's visit Razz. He always cheers you up."
***
Zilik escorted Alex to Razz's quarters. Razz was delighted to see Alex but was more subdued in his greeting, either for Teela's sake, or because she hadn't gone home mortally injured this time. Still, Teela was a subdued blue color.
"Should I take the children and go?" Teela asked.
"Teela! No!" Alex gasped.
Razz patted Alex's hand. "She means take the babies with four Gila guards to safe territory."
Teela nodded, Razz smiled, but Alex's gut twisted.
It didn't sound like she meant that. It sounded like she was leaving him and taking the children. What have I done?
"I am sure you were brought here to fight as the Guardian you are, not as a tourist or ambassador. I am also quite sure you desire the safety of the babies, so I have four Gila guards who scorn Cla and her ilk while respecting you as szarek. Do you wish to see the babies before you leave?"
"I'd rather you ran for it with Teela and the babies," Alex said with her usual brutal honesty. "You go go go."
Teela's color changed to a placid green and she smiled first at Alex, then fondly at Razz.
"I cannot leave, both because of my position and because you will need my help, whatever your mission," Razz said and lifted his chin in his stubborn way that Alex found both endearing and frustrating. "Teela, please take the babies and leave, with my love."
She nodded and walked to the bedrooms. She came out holding the babies and with four Gilas accompanying her.
Razz took one of the babies and nuzzled it until it trilled in delight, and then he handed it to Alex. She cuddled it to her chest and it snuggled against her warmth, still trilling. Razz repeated the procedure with the second baby.
"These are the Guardian's children," Razz told the Gila guards in a formal tone. "She rescued them at the cost of her life-blood. Only the skilled healers of her world were able to bring her back."
"Uh," Alex said but shut her mouth at Razz's pointed look.
"She is allowing Teela and myself to raise them," Razz continued. "Please guard them as befits a szarek's children. Do you see, hear, and understand?"
The Gila's pounded their chests and roared in agreement. Razz took the babies from Alex and handed them to Teela. The guards surrounded her and they left.
At the sound of the roaring, Dex had peeped out of another bedroom door. When he saw Alex, his expression brightened, and he scurried over to her.
Alex knelt down, so that Dex could cuddle against her if he wished. He hugged her tightly, his muzzle squished between her rather small breasts.
"How are you, Dex?" Alex asked, pleased he wasn't trembling.
"You were correct. Time did heal my wounds. Some of them. I wish you to meet Gaia. I wish her to be my partner, with your permission."
"Dex! You do not need my permission! Creator of All help me, both her and Teela will resent me forever," Alex moaned.
"Oh, I will not," a pleasant little voice said with mirth. "Neither will Teela. She is reassured by your words and actions just now. I've been watching this whole time. Being small means I am often overlooked."
Alex looked over Dex's head at a tiny gecko female, Gaia. She was smiling and seemed equal in serenity to Dex's nervousness. She even seemed amused that Dex was smashed against Alex.
"Is it true you extended your protection to your emancipated ones?" Gaia asked, peering at her with cute black button eyes.
At first Alex thought she had lovely long eyelashes before she realized they were fringed crests over her eyes.
"Absolutely. Whoever challenges you for Dex is really challenging me. A very angry and vindictive me. Please let that be widely known," Alex said.
If a female won't fight for one of her emancipated males that she didn't deserve him. No, that's too much like Cla. This tiny Gaia has no chance against any Anolis female, but I bet she would try.
"I will announce such," Razz said. "Now, I wish to know why you were Called here, and alone at that, Alex."
Alex shrugged. "Portal Guardian told me to save Gabe's son, so here I am."
"And your teammates declined to accompany you?"
"They, uh, weren't invited."
"And that traitorous Gabe did not object to his exclusion from a mission to save his own son?"
"He wasn't there, Razz. None of them were." Alex ran her hand through her hair.
Fire truck, what do I tell Mr. Nosy and Adorable? Should I tell him about alternate timelines? His head might explode.
Razz alerted on her nervous habit, took her hand, and nuzzled it. "Come, we shall drink wine and discuss this further."
Dex sobbed in distress and hugged Alex tighter. "What horrible thing happened to you, Alex, that left you alone, without teammates?"
To Alex's relief, Gaia still showed no resentment, but instead tapped gently up and down Dex's spine.
"Nothing horrible," Alex lied. "Only Gabe and I aren't together anymore. It was a complicated mess, but it's okay now."
Razz snuggled with both Alex and Dex while Gaia continued her soft tapping.
"That explains why that traitor is not here, but not why Rile is absent. Did he not make his feelings clear to you? He helped considerably with the revolution."
"What? Rile talked to you about me?" Alex squeaked and she clenched a handful of Dex's shirt.
"I manipulated him to tell me. I told him that I wanted to help you, which was true." Razz stroked Alex's fist until she relaxed it.
"Rile helps himself, all right." Alex thought bitterly of the revelation of her nightly glow.
"I was surprised that he found your glow sexually satisfying." Razz clasped Alex's hand.
"You knew? Wait, what do you mean, he found? What about you? I mean, did you...?" Alex stumbled around that too-sensitive topic.
"As for myself, I felt safety and security, rescue from the pit of hell, and the love I truly desired. It was not sexual," Razz said. "Did not your teammate Cale emphasize often enough that he dreamed only of his clan after spending a night in the healing bed with Zilik and us?"
Alex thought about this new revelation, tears building.
"It was a calming power," Dex said into Alex's shirt. "Like being held and rocked by father or Razz after a beating by a female."
"I felt healing," Zilik said and boldly leaned against Alex. He buried his muzzle in her hair. "Thank you for saving my life."
"So it is the receiver who interprets your power," Razz said. "But I suspect Gabe and Rile made you feel guilty about your nightly glow because it was sexually stimulating to them. That is why you were so ashamed when you last arrived here. Again, did you not believe your teammate Cale who repeated that he dreamed of his family? He was quite sincere and is the most truthful of those Agama you call teammates."
Alex wiped her tears. "Cale is nearly perfect. Of course he would have a pure interpretation."
Razz sighed and nuzzled closer. "What about us? Me? Dex? Zilik? Are we nearly perfect, too?"
"You and Dex were so abused that I doubt you would find anything sexual."
Zilik chuckled, startling them. "I am far from nearly perfect."
"You were badly wounded. Again, not in shape to find anything sexual."
"I healed faster than you think and I agree with Razz, Dex, and Cale."
"Excuse me," Gaia said quietly. "I suggest a solution."
Dex relaxed his grip on Alex and slid one arm around Gaia in a feat of flexibility. "You are so smart, love. Tell us."
"Group bed, all of us. Dex and Razz are on the mend from their years of abuse, while Zilik is fine and I am fine. We shall even invite that lovely scoundrel Lok and then we shall decide about this power," Gaia said with calm certainty.
"What is that human saying you would repeat? 'The more the merrier'?" Razz asked.
"I guess," Alex said. "I still feel guilty, though."
"Ah, yes, your misplaced feelings of shame," Razz said. "I am very familiar with such. Shame is a tool commonly wielded by Anolis females."
"Uh." Alex ran her hands through her hair again.
Razz hugged her harder. "Shame isolates us, drives us away from our family, our community, tells us we are unworthy of love. Shame corrodes the part of us that believes we can change. Shame even blackmails us by telling us that if others knew who we really were, they would be disgusted."
Razz kissed Alex on the cheek." I do not bow to Anolis females anymore and I will not allow you to bend under such a burden. Let us assemble the group bed." Razz released her. "I have work to do. The son of Gabe is a rumor, never seen, never verified."
"But he has daughters? And they've been seen?" Alex asked.
"Yes. We shall speak of them at a later time. I must tap into my network of spies and will tell you all they tell me. It is not prudent to pass on half-truths and rumors. For now, I shall have the group bed assembled and food and wine brought. It is night and we must eat, drink, and sleep while information is gathered for us."
Razz wasn't sure how Zilik would fit into this, but they were good friends and Razz had no problems helping him as well as Rile. And if Zilik was too busy for a permanent sleep-mate, then Lok would jump at the chance to bond with Alex.
Why shouldn't Alex have a male here and one at home? She deserved it. He would do whatever would make Alex happy, no matter what she said about monogamy.
He would be happy to define monogamy as one mate on each world. He was sure that Zilik and Lok would agree with him. He would convince Alex of the same, to make her happy.
If she didn't agree, then perhaps he could find a way to speak to this Portal Guardian and keep Alex here with Zilik or Lok. There certainly was enough evil here for her to fight for a lifetime.
A/N
Dedicated to
Cocosghost
We were going through the blues together! I hope she's better !❤️🐲💜
If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider clicking the yellow star