THE WAY HOME by D. Skiles TEASER OPEN FADE IN EXT. FIELD - STORM - CLOUDED DAY Very little daylight is making it through the clouds. The sky is dark, black, and rain pours down. Lightning is almost the only illumination upon the field of knee-high grass we see before us. That is, until the vortex opens before us, hovering a few feet above the ground and setting an eerie orange glow upon the grass. Quinn slides out of the wormhole, landing on his back in the grass. He sits up, looking around, already getting soaked by the rain. Colin falls out behind him with a shout, crashing to his knees behind his brother. Quinn then rolls over and gets up, helping his brother to his feet in the process. They both turn, looking towards the wormhole as Diana flies out, crashing into the two brothers and causing all three of them to fall into the grass. Diana actually laughs as she gets up from off of them. They sit up and turn to her, unable to keep themselves from smiling back. Mallory dives out of the vortex next, backwards, skidding across the slick grass ground on his back for a few inches after he lands. The moment he skids to a stop he looks up to the others with an expression of worry and reaches out for them in desperation. MALLORY Quick, guys! Get me up before somebody... Too late. Rembrandt and Maggie come out of the vortex right as he's in the middle of his sentence. Maggie falls straight towards Mallory, who cringes in anticipation of the impact. However, she lands on all fours, her hands and feet holding firm just around Mallory, leaving her body to hover over him. Rembrandt hits the ground harmlessly beside them. Mallory looks up at Maggie in disbelief, who looks like she's about to go flying off of him in revulsion. MALLORY (smirking) This is an interesting position. Maggie gets to her knees, sighing in exasperation, and slaps him lightly across the face. He looks a little chagrined but not surprised. MALLORY You know... enough with the hitting, already. MAGGIE Stop saying things like that, I'll stop hitting you. They both smile smugly at the exchange. Gradually, everyone staggers to a standing position. Maggie turns her eyes skyward, watching the rain pour down. MAGGIE Great! Maybe we can just die from hypothermia instead of flamethrowers and bullets! QUINN Not until we get home, we can't! (checking the timer) And we've got less than a day to find out if we're there! COLIN (to Quinn) Do you think this is it? Quinn shrugs, and as he does so, a car pulls up to them, right in the middle of the field. It has no tires, but still seems to move well. It's also longer than most cars, having three back seat rows instead of just one or the two you would expect in a van. The man in the driver's seat sticks his head out of the window. A pale old fellow with matted hair. MAN Hey, you all! What're you doing way out here? REMBRANDT We kind of lost our way. Would you mind giving us a lift? MAN Sure thing, climb on in. Quinn and Colin hoist Mallory up between them, and the group goes over to the car. Part of the way over to the car, Quinn stops. He looks surprised. He leaves Mallory with his brother, and leans over, looking at the underside of the car. ANGLE - BENEATH CAR There's no wheels at all, as already stated. However, that's not the half of it. There's also nothing attaching it to the ground whatsoever. It's hovering quite comfortably about two feet above the grass. BACK TO LAST ANGLE Quinn straightens out, standing up. He turns to the driver, a look of disbelief on his face. QUINN (disbelieving) You're hovering. The man looks at Quinn like he's an idiot. MAN Yeah? INT. CAR - STORM - CLOUDED DAY Everyone is in now, and the hovering vehicle is sweeping its way across the grass, towards the lights of a city in the distance. All of our sliders are riding in the rows behind the driver, with no one in the passenger seat beside him. Quinn and Colin sit in the first row, with Diana and Mallory in the next, and Rembrandt and Maggie in the back. MAN Welcome to my vehicle. The name's Ronnie. DIANA Hello Ronnie. RONNIE So, where to? REMBRANDT Well, that depends. Where're we headed? RONNIE Man, you ARE lost. San Francisco, of course. QUINN Then how about the Dominion Hotel? RONNIE Can do. You from out of town? MALLORY That's one way of putting it. DIANA Some weather, huh? RONNIE Tell me about it. I'm getting pretty sick of it, myself. I just hope the doc can fix it up sometime soon. REMBRANDT The doc? RONNIE Yeah, you know. The great and illustrious Doctor Michael Mallory? COLIN Michael Mallory? The gang shares grins. This could be it. QUINN Listen, can you take us to the home of Michael Mallory? RONNIE Well, I suppose. (beat) You aren't some kind of press, are you? QUINN No! No. RONNIE Well, that's good then. 'Cause I swear, some of those papers have just been giving him too hard a time. That poor guy, he got those blasted Kromaggs off of this world and all he's gotten is trouble for it. I understand that people are upset about the environmental problems and all, but what was really more important in the long run? People would've just kept dying, quick and painful, if that blasted war was allowed to go on. Now Quinn is grinning from ear to ear. He's convinced. The car is already zooming up into the outskirts of the city. QUINN Well, listen. You may find this hard to believe, but... MAGGIE (warning) Quinn... QUINN (continued) ...we're sliders. Ronnie slows the car to a halt, hovering along the curb of the road. He turns around to look at the group behind him. RONNIE You all are sliders? QUINN Yes sir. RONNIE That's impossible. The slidecage... QUINN (interrupting) We got around the slidecage. RONNIE NO ONE can get around the slidecage. COLIN We can. RONNIE Uh-huh. He leans over, reaching into the glove compartment, and pulls out a gun. Turning to the back seat, he trains it on Quinn. QUINN Whoa! Uh, easy there, chief, I'm... RONNIE Quiet. Ronnie then reaches over again to the glove compartment with his free hand, this time withdrawing a large black ring. He holds the ring out to Quinn. RONNIE Put this around your neck. Diana leans over. She seems to recognize it. DIANA Is that... QUINN (interrupting) It's okay, Diana. Cautiously, he takes the ring from Ronnie, smiling. Quinn slowly lifts it up, expanding the open end, and pulls it around his neck, snapping it shut at the back. The collar beeps when it snaps closed. Ronnie then reaches over into the glove compartment again and pulls out a tiny remote control. The edge of it glows green with a light that runs back and forth. He hits a button. Quinn jolts forward, yelping in pain as a zapping sound rings out. COLIN Stop! Thankfully, he does so. MAGGIE (angry) What the hell did you do to him? Ronnie lowers his gun, setting it on the passenger seat next to him. RONNIE Just a routine check. You're not 'maggs. That's some comfort. (beat, he sighs) So. Who are you people? QUINN Actually, I'm the son of the Michael Mallory you know. My name is Quinn Mallory. (gesturing to Colin) And this is... RONNIE (interrupting) Do you take me for an idiot? Get the hell out of my car. MALLORY Hold on there, pal! QUINN (quiet) Let it go, Mallory. In the back, Maggie nods. MAGGIE Let's go, guys. EXT. STREET - STORM - CLOUDED DAY The group climbs back out into the rain from the right side of the car. Rembrandt and Colin hoist Mallory out between them. There's a mini-mall behind them. Small businesses line the road. Obviously we're still not deep into the downtown area. Quinn opens the passenger side door, leaning in to talk. QUINN I don't understand! Why... RONNIE (harsh) Quinn Mallory is DEAD. Ronnie leans over and pulls the door shut, slamming it in front of Quinn, who jumps back. The car drives off. Quinn stands on the sidewalk, his lips pursed in frustration. MAGGIE Then if you're dead on this world, that must mean... QUINN (resigned) This isn't my homeworld. The others all react, with frustration and sadness filling their faces. FADE OUT END TEASER OPENING SEQUENCE QUINN What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? REMBRANDT What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? MAGGIE Where it's the same year... DIANA And you're the same person... MALLORY But everything else is different? COLIN And what if you can't find your way home? [THEME MUSIC PLAYS] WHISPER: "Sliders" END OPENING SEQUENCE FADE IN ACT I OPEN INT. COFFEE SHOP - STORM - CLOUDED DAY Rain streams down the windows, delivering a taste of the harsh reality outside to the relaxing patrons within. Our group sits around a table by the window, except for Colin. We watch as he runs by the front window and through the entrance, soaked, pushing a wheelchair in front of him. COLIN I think this should work. MALLORY Thanks. Colin eases Mallory over into the black wheelchair. Mallory smiles. MALLORY Well I've got cushioned seats, and a remote driving mechanism. Just about all the comforts a man can stand. Except for, maybe, I dunno... WORKING LEGS. REMBRANDT Calm down, man. We'll make it good. COLIN We need to remember to return that chair to the store down the road, though. They said it's a free loan, but only for a week. DIANA I don't think that'll be a concern if this isn't the world we're looking for. QUINN Well, I for one am not ready to give up just yet. I mean, Ronnie mentioned driving out the Kromaggs, and my dad. Not to mention the slidecage. There's already too many similarities to overlook. REMBRANDT Maybe so Q-Ball, but I think we need to stay prepared for the possibility that we're not there yet. I mean, it could just be that this world is almost identical to yours. The ecology here sure seems fine, despite what Sargeant Larson told us his world should be like when we were on Purgatory. And there's no telling how many worlds there might be that were formerly infested by Kromaggs and built slidecages to keep them out. MAGGIE Somehow, I'm thinking that's probably not the kind of thing that happens every day. Whole worlds don't just unite their entire populations to whip up a structure with 73 levels and 2300 tunnels on an alternate Earth on a whim. QUINN (smiling) To be honest, Rembrandt may have a point. I remember back when Remmy, Wade, the Professor and I had only been sliding for eighteen months, we reached a world where we thought we were home, or, at least, thought we were back on the world that I thought was my home then. Anyway, it was the little things that showed us we were wrong. REMBRANDT (grinning) Yeah, and things were so similar there that for a while we were worried that we'd slid with that world's Professor by mistake. (chuckling) A year after the fact, he still wouldn't stop teasing us about it. Trying to throw us off by making little asides about not being the right one. He got a hell of a kick out of it. MAGGIE Wow. That's quite... (shaking her head) ...quite a situation. QUINN (still smiling) Tell us about it. The point is, it could really be the little things that make the difference as to whether this is our homeworld or not. Something as simple as, say... an asterix on a baseball card. Mallory rolls his eyes. MALLORY Great. (quick beat) But, hey, even if this isn't exactly your world, maybe someone here can at least get me back on my feet. MAGGIE Well, we're never going to find out any of that if we don't get to Quinn's dad. Or... this world's verison of him. COLIN Right. If he's really a celebrity, maybe someone in here knows where he lives. Ronnie did. DIANA Sounds like as good a place as any to start. Turning around, Diana immediately reaches out and grabs the apron of a passing waitress, tugging on it lightly to get her attention. DIANA Hey. The girl turns and nods, smiling politely. DIANA Could you tell us where we might find the home of Michael Mallory? We're not sure how to get there from here. The waitress nods enthusiastically. WAITRESS No problem. Just take the light rail to Market Street, and it's right on the corner where Market meets New Montgomery. Doing a tour of California's celebrity homes, huh? DIANA (smiling) Something like that. Thanks. CUT TO - INT. LIGHT RAIL (MUNI) TRAIN Mallory sits in his chair in the back of a car. The car is pretty much empty other than our sliders. The rest of the group other than Mallory is up closer to the front of the car, and there's a couple of strangers sitting in seats around the middle, too. Quinn walks to the back of the car and sits down in a seat by Mallory. QUINN We should be at our stop soon. Mallory nods, glancing at the window. QUINN So... what am I thinking right now? Now Mallory turns and looks at him like he's nuts. MALLORY Excuse me? QUINN (grinning) Go on, tell me. Mallory sighs, already exasperated by this line of inquiry. MALLORY (bored) You're hoping desperately that you're about to meet your real parents... and that you won't you won't have to work on those stupid equations again. Quinn grins and shakes his head. QUINN You see? You KNOW me. MALLORY Anybody could've guessed that. QUINN I'm not so sure. MALLORY (annoyed) And I'll bet you know what I'M thinking right now, too. QUINN Yeah, I do. And I'm sorry that it bothers you. It's just that you can't deny how well connected we are now. I lived in your head, and you in mine. Granted, it was more of the former than the latter, but, really, I can't help but feel like I've gained another brother. Mallory does crack a small smile, trying to look away. Quinn points at him and grins. QUINN (grinning) Ah-ah, I see that! Mallory just rolls his eyes, still smiling. Rembrandt walks up behind the two, leading Quinn to turn and face him. REMBRANDT We've arrived, guys. INT. LIGHT RAIL (MUNI) STATION The group steps out of the train and onto the platform. They head for the stairs and adjoining ramp nearby, with Mallory keeping pace nicely now thanks to his electric wheelchair. COLIN Really think we'll be able to find our parents here? DIANA Well, the directions DID seem pretty specific. REMBRANDT Yeah. How many people can live in that one building? CUT TO - EXT. MALLORY BUILDING - STORM - CLOUDED DAY The building is huge. A skyscraper. In front of it, our six heroes stand in the rain. Quinn looks slightly awed by the size of the building his parents live in. QUINN I'm guessing at least a few hundred. Rembrandt shakes his head, defeated. Suddenly, all at once, the rain stops. REMBRANDT What the devil... ? COLIN The rain stopped. MAGGIE Kind of sudden, don't you think? MALLORY Maybe somebody hit the "off" switch. DIANA The cloud cover hasn't dissipated, though. ANGLE SKYWARD Still as black and darkened as before. BACK TO LAST ANGLE DIANA (continued) The skies are as unfriendly as ever. QUINN I think this is the least of our concerns right now. (gesturing to the building) We need to get down to business. They head for the entrance, the camera TRACKING with them. As they reach the glass doors at the front, Quinn swings them open, and the group walks (and rolls) in, past the large cornerstone that sits within the building by the entrance, engraved with the words MALLORY LABS. INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LOBBY - CLOUDED DAY The lobby is expansive, lined with tile on the floor. Across the lobby is a circular desk, behind which sits a pair of armed guards. The desk has a small console of buttons on it, and a computer screen built into the top. Behind the desk is a large fountain, currently running. And beyond that, there's a large flight of stairs going up to the next floor. The two guards behind the desk watch with interest as the six travellers cross the lobby. They step up to the desk, all looking at the guards expectantly. The guards just look back. After a beat, one speaks up. GUARD #1 We may help you? QUINN I hope so. We're looking for the living quarters of Michael Mallory. The two guards share a look... and a smile. GUARD #2 And just who are you exactly? Quinn starts to open his mouth as realization washes over his face. Should he tell them? He turns and looks back at the others. A few shake their heads. They can't help. Colin nods to him, gesturing for him to go ahead. Maggie shrugs, totally unsure of what to do. He looks back to the guards, and speaks slowly and carefully. QUINN My name... and I know you're not going to believe this, but please hear me out... is Quinn Mallory. The guards smile smugly. One raises an eyebrow. GUARD #2 Quinn Mallory is dead. QUINN Yes, so I've heard. MALLORY (raising his hand) Would it help if I said *I* was Quinn Mallory? Now the guards look at him instead. Guard #1's mouth curls up in a disbelieving smirk. GUARD #2 I thought HE... (pointing at Quinn) ...was Quinn Mallory. QUINN I am. GUARD #1 (pointing at Mallory) But he just said HE was Quinn Mallory. QUINN He is. It's complicated. The guards look at Quinn like he's out of his damn mind. He just grins, nodding assertively. MAGGIE C'mon, people! Haven't you ever heard of sliding before? Now the guards turn their looks on her. GUARD #2 You people are sliders? COLIN Yes, of course. GUARD #1 That's impossible. QUINN Uh, if it's the slidecage you're worried about, we got around it. GUARD #1 What? QUINN Well, my father left my brother... (gesturing to Colin) ...and I microdots to tell us that we're his sons. And I used Colin's microdot to find the coordinates for this world. COLIN When we tried to come here, though, we ended up in the slidecage. QUINN But not for long. We found the key to unlock the slidecage thanks to Colin's microdot and I reprogrammed it to send anyone sliding to these coordinates back to the last world they were on, rather than trapping them forever in that structure. Now the guards look interested in what he's saying. They may actually be buying it. GUARD #2 Really? REMBRANDT Really. And after that, Q-Ball here... (pats Quinn on shoulder) ...started working on deriving some equations to attach to the end of those coordinates we got for this earth, to get us around the slidecage. QUINN (nodding) And now they may have finally worked... IF this is me and my brother's homeworld. The first guard turns and nods to the second. The second one shrugs and leans over, hitting a button on the small console on the desk. GUARD #2 Sir? A voice comes over the intercom speakers. The voice of MICHAEL MALLORY (from here on referred to as MICHAEL). MICHAEL (V.O.) (on intercom) Yes? GUARD #2 Sir, we have some men here claiming to be sliders. Two of them say they're your sons. MICHAEL (V.O.) (on intercom) Again? Get rid of them. The first guard steps up to interject. GUARD #1 Sir, they know about the microdots. There is a beat of silence. MICHAEL (V.O.) (on intercom, quiet) Really... GUARD #1 Yes. And the man claiming to be your son Quinn relayed the entire slidecage story to us. Of how they escaped. Now there is a much longer beat. Quinn turns, looking back to the others, who share his anxiety in this moment. Finally... MICHAEL (V.O.) (on intercom) Send them up. He clicks off. Colin and Quinn share a smile between them. INT. ELEVATOR "The Girl From Ipanema" plays on the elevator intercom. Quinn drums his fingers on his jeans nervously. The entire group is staring like zombies at the floor numbers lit up before them. COLIN (to Quinn) So... any ideas on how we introduce ourselves? QUINN (uneasily) We just say our names. It's not so hard. MAGGIE You don't sound all that convinced. QUINN (uneasily) I'm alright, really. We'll just say our names. MAGGIE "I'm Quinn Mallory, this is my brother Colin Mallory, and this is another Quinn Mallory?" MALLORY (mumbling) "...and this is my other brother Darryl." DIANA You could always have one of us introduce the two of you instead. QUINN No. It's okay. We'll deal. The elevator doors open... INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LIVING ROOM - CLOUDED DAY The six step out of the elevator, directly into the living room. It's a largely white room, with a window over in the wall, a cabinet of precious items in it, a pair of large white couches, and a soft off-white carpet. And, as the group steps out... Quinn stops. The others behind him all freeze. They see something, off-camera... ANGLE ON - MALLORYS The Mallory parents, MICHAEL and ELIZABETH, are sitting on a white couch. Michael Mallory holds a small remote in his hand. Elizabeth, on the other hand, has a gun pointed at our group. COLIN Not again... The gang shares some uncertain looks. FADE OUT END ACT I ACT II OPEN FADE IN INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LIVING ROOM - CLOUDED DAY All is as before. MICHAEL We're sorry about this, but we need to check on a few things. QUINN We're not Kromaggs. ELIZABETH Of course you aren't. You would've set off the alarm as soon as you entered the building. MICHAEL We have sensors that scan for that sort of thing. Michael Mallory stands up, off of the couch, and steps a little closer to the group. MICHAEL You'll understand that, after having dealt with countless imposters over the past couple of years, we're rather skeptical of anyone who claims to be our sons. Michael holds up the tiny remote unit in his hand. MICHAEL This will scan your DNA patterns and quantum signatures. If you're really from this Earth, and have any relation to my wife and I, we'll know after this is done. (quick beat) So, who among you is claiming to be our children? QUINN I am. I'm Quinn and... (gesturing to Colin) ...that's Colin. Michael Mallory extends his arm, pointing the device towards Quinn. MICHAEL Well, we'll know in a moment if that's who you are, won't we? He hits the button, and a thin, wide blue light hits Quinn, moving down his body as Michael Mallory swings his arm down. Next, Mr. Mallory turns and points the device at Colin, doing the same to him. Finished, he looks at the tiny readout on the device, hitting a couple of buttons to move it along. Quinn and Colin share a nervous look. After a beat, Michael Mallory looks up to the group in disbelief. He looks back to his wife in shock. MICHAEL Elizabeth... She gets up and looks over his shoulder at the readout. The gun falls from her hand, landing on the carpet, as her face nearly turns white. Both of the elder Mallorys look up to the sliding group, unsure of how to react. MICHAEL (quiet, shocked) Boys... ? Michael and Elizabeth step over, Michael throwing down his device on the way, and embrace the Mallory sons. Elizabeth holds onto Colin like her life depends on it. Michael hugs Quinn silently, unable to say a word. CUT TO - INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LIVING ROOM - CLOUDED DAY It's the same place, but clearly later in the day. Michael and Elizabeth Mallory sit on the couch again, leaned over, interested in their guests' every word. On the couch across from them, Colin, Quinn, Maggie, Rembrandt, and Diana sit from right to left. Mallory sits off to the side of the couch in his chair. Maggie holds onto Quinn's arm happily as he explains his story to his parents. QUINN ...and with only two hours on the timer, we had to hurry to find Colin and convince him of the truth. He turns to his brother, grinning. QUINN Thankfully, the first part wasn't too hard. He went soaring over us in his latest invention and crashed into a tree. Colin laughs at the memory. MICHAEL (fascinated, to Colin) You concocted a way to fly on your world? COLIN Yes, in a manner of speaking. Never quite got the kinks out of it. QUINN (grinning) He didn't have a chance, once I went tearing through his things and found the microdot in his mother's locket. Michael nods. ELIZABETH (to Colin) I guess this explains why we couldn't find you when we went back looking for you. (turning to Quinn, confused) But, Quinn, when we tried to get you back, your parents said you had been kidnapped and presumed dead. Quinn nods. QUINN My mom... my other mom, I mean... told me that they got so attached to me that they hid me from you when you came back to get me. She said they didn't want to give me up. MICHAEL (smiling) And who can blame them. Quinn and Colin just smile. ELIZABETH So, you've told us all about how you met your friends Rembrandt and Maggie, and how you found Colin, but you haven't explained how your other two friends joined you yet. Quinn nods to Diana and Mallory. QUINN It's all yours. DIANA Okay then... Diana takes a deep breath, trying to think of where to begin. DIANA Well, on our homeworld, there was this scientist, my mentor actually, who was "unstuck" in spacetime. He couldn't get a firm hold on any one universe without being held stable by a specific field. Michael Mallory nods. MICHAEL Yes, I've had some theories in that area. I didn't explore any of them for the obvious reasons. DIANA Well, it turns out that this man, Dr. Geiger, had plans to collapse universes into one another and restabilize himself. Mallory and I both worked for Dr. Geiger, but we had no idea that that was his intention. So, unfortunately, his first trial run got off without a hitch, when he merged Mallory and Quinn together. Michael and Elizabeth react with shock. ELIZABETH My god! DIANA Yes, and on top of that, Colin was made unstuck by the presence of two Quinns within one wormhole. Michael shakes his head in disbelief. MICHAEL That's... that's horrifying. ELIZABETH When did you finally recover them? REMBRANDT We finally anchored Colin back with us about a week ago, after close to two years. QUINN And they cloned me a fresh body and separated me from Mallory just days ago. My essence carried over the important stuff that made me me, at least. Memories, quantum signature... the good stuff. ELIZABETH Unbelievable. MICHAEL Are you both all right? COLIN I was in bad shape at first, but Diana made me healthy again. He smiles at her and she smiles back. QUINN (nodding) I'm good. It's nice to be free to think for myself again. MAGGIE The whole recovery came at a price, though... She turns and looks towards Mallory. He waves hello to the Mallory parents. MICHAEL So, you're another Quinn Mallory? The one that our son was merged with? Mallory nods. MALLORY When I was separated from your Quinn, though, the DNA from various other alternates of us that Dr. Geiger had merged with me to cure my muscular dystrophy was pulled out of me again. So now I'm paralyzed, just like before. MAGGIE (to Michael and Elizabeth) Do you think you can help him? Michael Mallory smiles. MICHAEL I don't think it should be a problem. Muscular Dystrophy is purely genetic. Obviously all he needs is some gene therapy. Mallory grins. MALLORY All right, Michael, my man! Michael Mallory raises an eyebrow. The other sliders all look at him with a half-grin of disbelief. Sheepishly, Mallory calms down, still smiling. MALLORY Sorry... uh, Mr. Mallory. Michael just laughs. MICHAEL It's all right. I understand. DIANA (to Michael) Gene therapy? Your world has that kind of genetic precision? MICHAEL Yes, for the most part. It's not completely exact, but it's damn well close. The gaps are filled in with a developed form of the Kromagg mental imaging technique. Quinn, Colin, Maggie and Rembrandt all react to this. REMBRANDT Your people have the 'magg healing skills? ELIZABETH Of course. They did initially develop those abilities on this world, after all. It's only natural that some humans picked them up along the way. MICHAEL Elizabeth is actually our foremost expert on the abilities. She's been studying Kromagg mind techniques for years. REMBRANDT Really? MALLORY (smiling) Then I guess she's primed and ready to help heal me. Elizabeth nods to Mallory. ELIZABETH (to Mallory) Don't worry. We'll make it good. MICHAEL (to Diana) So, you did all of this? The anchoring, the cloning, the separation? DIANA (uneasily) I... had a hand in it, to some extent. REMBRANDT (to Diana) A hand? Quinn and Colin wouldn't even be here without you, girl. DIANA They wouldn't be here without Dr. Geiger's various creations, either. Especially his clone. Michael Mallory shakes his head in disbelief. MICHAEL You all have so many incredible - and bizarre - stories to tell. Sliding to all those alternate worlds, never knowing where you'd end up next... MALLORY (grinning) And on every one, nearly always managing to piss in somebody's pool. (quite beat) Metaphorically. Michael laughs and nods. MICHAEL Maybe you can all tell us more over a nice late lunch. He and his wife stand up off of their couch. MICHAEL (continued) Something appropriately large enough for eight people. He turns to Colin with a smile. MICHAEL (to Colin, smiling) What do you think? Your favorite still strained carrots? Colin laughs and gets up off the couch, Quinn standing with him. Michael turns, heading off to get to work... QUINN Dad? He turns back around, looking at his son and smiling. MICHAEL Yes? Quinn just smiles back at him, broadly. QUINN (smiling) Nothing. I just wanted to hear how it sounds. Michael Mallory beams at his two sons. CUT TO - INT. MALLORY BUILDING - DINING ROOM - CLOUDED DAY The room has a brick fireplace and a long, wooden table with a smooth glossy finish. Candles on the table illuminate the group seated around it as they enjoy the feast before them. Windows line the wall behind them, looking down on the outside world. Two of the large windows are actually glass sliding doors out to a balcony. MICHAEL So, luckily, a few years back we finally broke their code. REMBRANDT The 'maggs? MICHAEL Yes, and we were able to intercept certain interdimensional transmissions and decipher them. After our sensors registered that the slidecage had been reprogrammed, I began to suspect that my sons must be on their way home. It wasn't until we intercepted a Kromagg transmission that we had verifiable proof of that fact. MAGGIE The Kromaggs mentioned Quinn and Colin in their transmissions? MALLORY (to Quinn) You really hang with the in crowd. Quinn half-smiles between bites of his food. ELIZABETH They just mentioned Quinn. We were thrilled to learn he was alive, but the transmissions revealed that his homecoming would likely come at a terrible price for our world. Quinn and Colin both pause, and share a glance at each other, looking concerned. COLIN What price? MICHAEL The freedom of our world from Kromagg domination. According to the tranmissions, Quinn had a Kromagg tracking device planted in his head on a world that the Kromaggs referred to as "Earth 113." Quinn and Rembrandt both jerk their heads towards one another in shock. Their jaws seem to hang open. REMBRANDT My God, Q-Ball, isn't that -- QUINN (interrupting) The Kromagg world... the first. With Mary. MAGGIE Okay, I gotta ask... "huh?" QUINN It's, uh, Earth 113 was the world that Remmy, Wade, the Professor and I got sent to during our first encounter with the Kromaggs about four or some years ago. I don't even know anymore. REMBRANDT Yeah, that's where we met Mary, a sort of 'magg translator. DIANA Translator? REMBRANDT (nodding) They were feeding us some story about how they weren't willing to learn a human language. Since then we've obviously seen that they were lying, though. Probably wanted to frighten us as much as possible. (continuing) Anyway, we barely escaped with our lives, thanks to Mary's help. Though, from the sounds of it, maybe the only reason we were ever able to escape was so that those freakin' maggots could follow Q-Ball and us back to his homeworld. QUINN (somber) Which means Mary died for nothing. COLIN (to Quinn, gently) I'm sure it wasn't your fault, brother. MALLORY Wait a second. So if he was carrying a Kromagg tracking device, does that mean it got stuck inside of me when we were merged? Michael Mallory shakes his head. MICHAEL Evidently not. A few months after we intercepted that transmission, we received another in which the Kromaggs stated that the tracking device had shut down and you... (to Quinn) ...were declared dead. QUINN (realizing) And that's why everyone said I was dead here. MICHAEL (nodding) The story of you and Colin being sent out into the multiverse was public knowledge. However, no one knew where you were - except us - or if you'd ever come back. When the news of your death came over the Kromagg wires, however, I began to fear that I had to let people know that hope of my sons, or at least one of them, coming home was lost. When Kromagg communcations with a world called Kromagg Outpost 88 corroborated that information and declared that the Mallorys were no longer among the foursome of "sliding humans" that had become so well-known within the circles of Kromagg high command on Kromagg Prime, I announced to the public that my boys were lost. COLIN And the Kromaggs lost the trail to our homeworld, too. MAGGIE Wait a second... Kromagg Prime? I thought that was this world. MICHAEL Not to us. They may be from this earth originally, but we think of Kromagg Prime as the homebase world they settled after we banished them. Our people have never been there, but from the rumors we've heard, it supposedly has its cities built in gigantic redwood trees, much more massive than anything we've ever seen. QUINN (nodding) Mary told me about that. MALLORY (smiling) You know, I hate to point this out, but the reason we don't have Kromaggs trailing us all the way here is because of the merging. And that's all thanks to good old Dr. Geiger. DIANA I guess he DID do something positive for the group by merging the two Quinns together. After all that pain that he caused us... he may have saved this world. REMBRANDT (grinning and chuckling) Who would've thought? ELIZABETH And it gets better. Those transmissions were intercepted by us amidst a hail of Kromagg discussion about a virus engineered on one or more worlds that has the ability to wipe the Kromaggs from the face of any world they land on. This definitely presented us with a singular opportunity. MICHAEL A number of our bravest men and women volunteered to go out into the multiverse and locate this virus, helping to spread it to other occupied worlds. They knew they could never return, but they chose to fight for the freedom of the multiverse. (smiling) A number of them have succeeded. It's what's turned the tide in the multiversal war against the Kromaggs. REMBRANDT (nodding) We've been to a number of worlds that held the virus ourselves. At least three of them. Two of them developed the virus on their own, but on the world where we anchored Colin, I don't know where they got it. Maybe they made it themselves, or maybe that was the handywork of your boys and girls out there. MAGGIE (to Michael and Elizabeth) Remmy even brought the virus to his homeworld, the world that Quinn grew up on. He's a regular war hero now. Rembrandt just smiles at her, but shakes his head in disagreement with her kind words. REMBRANDT Well, it's certainly a better way to get the job done than the Voraton device turned out to be. DIANA Hey, that's right... the Voraton device. While we were on Purgatory, we found one of those. MICHAEL You all escaped from the slidecage AND Purgatory? (chuckling) My God, what aren't you capable of? DIANA But there's still something I don't understand. When we landed on Purgatory, we were told that the Voraton weapon destroyed this world's ecology when it was used. MICHAEL Unfortunately, it did. Not my finest hour. It's not like I was the only person who invented it, but still, there are some people who still hold a grudge with me for that. QUINN Then, how... MICHAEL ...are things as good as they are? Well, for starters, if you landed on Purgatory, then you know that we have atmosphere processing capabilities. So we enacted those capabilities here shortly after Purgatory's creation was finished and a batallion of young troops was sent on their way there. Then the problem became precipitation. We had it, but not in the normal amounts. A flaw in our processing capabilities. And as a result, much of our crops had to be grown in controlled environments. So I had to spend quite a while, along with Elizabeth, working on improving the atmosphere generation technology, then isolating the elements of that that were specific to atmospheric gasses and such. The conditions that affected our cloud and precipitation concentration. Quinn glances towards one of the windows. QUINN (smiling) Sure you didn't overdo it? Michael Mallory smiles wryly at his youngest son. MICHAEL You don't know how right you are, I'm afraid. Cloud cover now dominates most of this planet, and we have more rain than not. Thankfully we have the technology to handle it appropriately enough that most serious flooding is avoided. Nevertheless... you're actually catching us on a GOOD day. COLIN I guess I'll consider myself lucky not to have landed on our world on a bad day, then. ELIZABETH (smiling) It's all about to change, anyway. COLIN Really? How? Elizabeth turns and smiles at her husband. ELIZABETH Michael has finally perfected a device he's been working on for a time now. A device that will restore the natural equilibrium to our biosphere and dissipate the excess gasses and elements that have put us in this overcast state for so long. MICHAEL In theory, anyway. But so far it looks quite successful. When the rain stopped earlier today, that wasn't an act of nature. That was an act of will, and a foreshadowing of nature as it will exist after I activate the device in full. At least, I hope it's that wonderful. Quinn nods at him. QUINN You'll make it good, dad. I know you can. His smiles back at his son. MICHAEL I have other things to make good first. CUT TO - INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LAB No windows here. Mallory is strapped down to a table. Michael Mallory works over him. MALLORY You know, this is kind of weird for me. I mean, you being the father of a guy who was inside of me, and also looking just like my own dad... MICHAEL And about to operate on you? I can see where that would be alarming. The perils of sliding to alternate universes, eh? MALLORY No kidd... He's interrupted as Michael Mallory injects him with something to put him under. Michael smiles and nods. MICHAEL Sleep well. When you wake up you'll feel as good as new. INT. MALLORY BUILDING - BEDROOM - CLOUDED DAY Mrs. Elizabeth Mallory sits, legs crossed, on the large bed in the center of the room. The room seems washed in a soft blue color, and the only light shining on Elizabeth Mallory comes through a window over on the far wall, the dim light of the cloudy day. Elizabeths sits with her eyes closed, her hands up to her temples. It looks like she's meditating. After a long, peaceful beat, her eyes flutter open. She looks up, as though she's sensed a presence. ANGLE ON - MAGGIE She smiles awkwardly at being caught. MAGGIE Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. Elizabeth smiles back at her. ELIZABETH It's all right. Maggie paces, stepping towards the window leisurely. MAGGIE So, uh, preparing for the big operation? Elizabeth nods. ELIZABETH Michael should be downstairs getting Mallory ready right now. I have to make sure I can focus deeply enough to help in this. Maggie sits down on the bed, kneeling on the corner, a foot or so away from Elizabeth Mallory. MAGGIE Is that hard? ELIZABETH (smiling) Not as hard as it looks. As long as you have enough practice in these techniques. You see, me, I've been doing this for years. Maggie nods. A beat of silence. ELIZABETH So, Maggie... what lies ahead for you now? Rembrandt wants to go home. Mallory and Diana are going to go home, too. But your home was destroyed. Maggie looks down and nods. MAGGIE Yeah. Well, now that Quinn and Colin are back with us and they've found their home, I was thinking I'd just stay here. Build a new life for myself. After all, every new world is a fresh start. ELIZABETH Aaaaand, plus... (beat, smiling) ...you're in love with Quinn. Maggie cocks her head to the side, her eyes betraying her shock at hearing this. After a few moments, she grins broadly. MAGGIE (grinning) How did you... ? ELIZABETH (interrupting) I can see it in your eyes. It's there in how you look at him. Like a woman who knows where the rest of her life lies. MAGGIE (nodding) Ever since I started sliding with them, Quinn became my world more than any other person or place could ever be. (beat) We spent some time in a bubble universe. An entire universe and timeline that existed over the course of a few hours in reality. It only existed for us. We shared a life together there. We were married, we had a son... we grew old together, and our love never faded as the years went on. I want a chance to live through that happiness again, in this reality. Elizabeth regards Maggie with a gentle look. ELIZABETH (smiling) I don't doubt that you will. I see it in Quinn's eyes too. I know that he wants to spend this life with you as much as you do with him. Maggie smiles. MAGGIE I just wish that I didn't have to lose Remmy to stay with Quinn. He's such a wonderful friend. He's always been there for me, especially these past couple of years since we lost Quinn and Colin. Elizabeth nods in understanding, not saying anything. Maggie looks up, thinking, changing the subject. MAGGIE You know, while we were in that bubble universe, I grew to be very close with Quinn's mother there, too. His other mother -- the one who adopted him and raised him. I also hope that I get the chance to know you that well, here. Elizabeth lays her hand on the space of the bed between them, extending it to her in friendship. Maggie moves her hand out too, and places it on top of Elizabeth's, smiling warmly at her. ELIZABETH You will. But first, right now, there's another Quinn Mallory that needs my help. Maggie nods, and Elizabeth gets up, still watching Maggie as she heads out the door. Maggie sits there on the bed, still for a beat. She looks up. Glancing out the window, the dim light of the clouded sky on her face, she smiles out towards her future. FADE OUT END ACT II ACT III OPEN FADE IN EXT. MALLORY BUILDING - BALCONY - CLOUDED NIGHT Like a strange mirror of the face of Maggie that we saw moments earlier, Quinn Mallory stands on this balcony. His face angled up towards the sky. His body leans against the railing, his expression unreadable. The city appears as small, dotted lights below. The sliding glass door behind him opens, and out onto the balcony steps Rembrandt Brown. He turns and shuts the door behind him, stepping up behind Quinn. Quinn doesn't even seem to notice the new presence with him. Quinn breaks the silence. QUINN How'd the operation go? REMBRANDT We'll know when Mallory wakes up. He's still out for now. But, uh, they're optimistic. For now, your dad's going to go ahead and try to activate his machine that's supposed to break the cloud cover up. Quinn nods. There's a long beat of silence again. This time, Rembrandt breaks the silence. REMBRANDT Penny for your thoughts, Q-Ball? Quinn remains silent for a moment. QUINN I was just thinking... after all these years, it looks like this is it. Like we're finally gonna stop sliding. REMBRANDT (nodding) Yeah, well, there's still one left for me. And after that, Mallory and Diana want to go home, too. QUINN (nodding) I know. But the thing is... I think I want to go home, too. REMBRANDT You... He stops himself, realizing. REMBRANDT Earth Prime? Quinn nods, turning to face his friend. QUINN After six years of sliding, fighting Kromaggs, and losing friends, I just want to go home to the world I grew up on and the mother that raised me. (smiles) And the place where my friends will be. Rembrandt smiles back at him. Quinn turns back, looking to the sky, his face fallen once more. QUINN But I can't just turn my back on my family. I spent two years trying to get here, trying to meet them. I had to meet them. I don't want to give them up now, when I'm just starting to know them. This is the world I was born on. I just wish there was some way to be able to still spend time with them. A beat. QUINN I don't want to lose a father again. I don't think I could handle it. Not after I just got one back. Rembrandt steps closer, looking at Quinn quizzically. QUINN (explaining) Throughout the course of my life, I've lost three fathers. My birth father gave me up. My adoptive father died while I was still young. And then there was the Professor... REMBRANDT Listen, the Professor... it wasn't your fault. QUINN Wasn't it? If I'd never invented sliding, the Professor... and, Wade... they'd still be alive. Maybe you'd have gotten another shot at your career, instead of being trapped with strangers on an interdimensional trip. REMBRANDT Think of all the worlds we've changed, that we've saved or made a difference on. If you'd never invented sliding, all of those worlds would be a lot worse off. Sliding even saved an entire Earth's population once. Remember the one where the asteroid was about to hit? Back when we first started on this crazy adventure? Everyone on that planet would be dead now if it wasn't for you. Quinn purses his lips and nods, still unsure. REMBRANDT And that's not even the half of it. My own world, our world, would be destroyed without your sliding machine. Look at how many worlds the Kromaggs invaded. Chances are that the Kromaggs still would have invaded and I imagine we all would've been taken by them and killed. We never would've had the chance to look for a way to fight them, and to take back our world. (beat) And I gotta tell you, I don't regret being a part of this journey for one second. Quinn turns back around and nods. He smiles a little. QUINN (small smile) Thanks. (a beat, his face falls) A you're right. I know you're right. But I still can't help but feel that the blood of two of the people that were the closest to me is on my hands. REMBRANDT Hey, I've already gone through this guilt. The guilt of abandoning Wade. The guilt of how those dirty 'maggs turned me into someone as bloodthirsty as them. QUINN (nodding) I went through that, too. The bloodlust. Seeing you turn away from your anger at the Kromaggs, though... during that time while I was still trapped in Mallory... that opened my eyes. REMBRANDT Well let me open your eyes again. The Professor loved you like his son in the same way that you loved him like your father. Ever since he got diagnosed with that disease, he knew that there wasn't much time for him. He died a quick and noble death, so that someone he loved could live, rather than dying slowly and painfully, alone. QUINN (quiet) I would've taken that bullet for him. REMBRANDT And if you had, he'd feel the same way about it that you do right now. He took it for you. He wanted you to live. You gotta let yourself LIVE, dammit. Quinn nods, his face tight with emotion. He knows that Rembrandt is right. REMBRANDT As for Wade, I have a lot more of a right to that guilt than you do. I was the one who didn't do enough to save her back in that 'magg camp. But she didn't hold a grudge with me, and certainly not with you either. She was never the kind to hold a grudge. Wade was thrilled that she got to see the kind of things that she did during her years of sliding with us. She said it was that kind of experience that taught her to stand up to the Kromaggs when they invaded. And when we found her again on Outpost 88, she destroyed that compound and herself to save this world from invasion. She was never much of one for fighting unless she had to. And her last act was something that brought peace to a whole universe... maybe even the multiverse. You know her as well as I do. You know she's proud of what she did, wherever she is. Quinn nods again, moreso this time. His face looks resigned, but still not terribly happy. QUINN It still tears me up to know that out of the four of us who started this, only two of us are going to be there at the end. REMBRANDT It's not just the two of us, Q-Ball. I mean, there's been eight different people that have gone sliding along with us over these years. And six of us are here together. You've got five of your friends still around, with you right now in the most tangible way possible. Quinn smiles a little, just for a moment. QUINN You're right. I just wish there was some way to know that Wade and the Professor are still with us, too. Rembrandt walks up and puts a hand on Quinn's shoulder. REMBRANDT They are, man. I know it. I can feel it. Quinn turns and looks at his friend, giving him a slight smile. Rembrandt smiles confidently back before turning around and heading back inside. With Remmy gone, Quinn once more looks up into the sky. QUINN (whispering) Come on, guys. Just give me a sign. ANGLE - BEHIND QUINN We see the back of Quinn's head, looking up to the dark clouds above. As though in response to his plea, the clouds in the middle of the sky begin to dissipate, wisping away into the night. As they vanish, behind them is revealed the full moon and the stars around it. ANGLE ON - SKY Now the sky fills the screen, as the last of the clouds disappear from the edges of our view. The stars fill up the clear night sky. Two in particular, around the middle of our view, seem to sparkle, shining out for all to see. ANGLE ON - QUINN He stares up in awe at this site, then his mouth widens in a pleased, comforted smile. QUINN (quiet) Stardust... He sits there, silently, maintaining his warm grin towards the sky. His eyes glisten in the moonlight as they water. INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Michael Mallory walks in through the elevator. The doors slide shut behind him. Quinn walks in from the other end of the room. MICHAEL Hey there, son. QUINN Hi, dad. How'd it go? Michael gestures to one of the windows. MICHAEL Quite well, obviously! Looks like we'll be enjoying a regular weather pattern from here on out. Quinn smiles. QUINN (smiling) Yeah, yeah, I noticed. But actually, I meant with Mallory. MICHAEL Oh! Well, he's... He's interrupted by the elevator doors letting out a "ding" and opening yet again. Out of the elevator walks Mallory -- yes, walks. Quinn grins at the sight of Mallory up and about again. Mallory marches over to Quinn, sharing his grin, and high-fives him. MALLORY (grinning) Wazzuuuuup?! QUINN (grinning) It's great to see you back on your feet again, buddy. MALLORY (grinning) You're tellin' me! Mallory steps over beside Michael and throws an arm around him. MALLORY (to Quinn, grinning) Your dad is just the man. Isn't he the man? QUINN (nodding and grinning) He is indeed the man. MALLORY (to Michael) Thank you. Really. Very much. Michael laughs and shrugs. MICHAEL Don't mention it. I would do the same for any friend of my sons'. Mallory smiles and nods, patting Michael on the shoulder. He then turns to Quinn. MALLORY (to Quinn) Where are the others? QUINN I think I saw them watching the HDTV on my way in. MALLORY Wow, those things actually sold on this world? Quinn just laughs a little to himself as Mallory takes off. MICHAEL (to Quinn) "Way in?" QUINN I was out on the balcony. I had some thinking to do. MICHAEL And what did your thinking bring you? QUINN A decision. Dad... I need to go home. To the home I grew up in and to the mother that raised me. Michael nods. QUINN Please understand, dad, that this is NOT some kind of a rejection of you or... MICHAEL (interrupting) I know, son, I know. I've been expecting this. A beat. QUINN You have? Michael nods again. MICHAEL Quinn, your mother and I have long expected that, the day you and Colin came back to us... if that day ever came... would probably be just that. A day. Maybe a little more, maybe even less. And then, you'd be gone. Back to the worlds you spent most of your lives on. Because you do have LIVES there. Here, it's just us, and you haven't even known us much. We've always hoped you would come back to us, yes... but we never really thought that we'd have much of a chance to keep you here. We just figured that you would slide on to our world, slide back to yours, and then slide back here to visit us from then on. QUINN But, dad, the timer... Michael raises a hand to stop him. MICHAEL I know. We can give you a new one, of my own design. Your friends too. As long as you don't activate it until you get to your homeworld, you can use it from there as a way to visit your friends and us by setting the coordinates and time for whatever you like. I'll even plug in the coordinates for your world, ours, and theirs using what you have on your current timer. Quinn smiles. QUINN Thank you. Dad. Michael grins at his son. INT. MALLORY BUILDING - LIVING ROOM - DAWN The six sliders stand at the ready. Quinn pulls out the timer and checks the readout. QUINN Just a few minutes left, guys. Michael steps up and hands him a small black remote-looking device. It's small enough that it's only barely longer than the length of his hand. MICHAEL Here. The timer I mentioned. I've checked the coordinates you had of your world with those I kept on file after we left you there. I just wanted to make sure you had the right ones. Anyway, It's a match. Quinn nods in thanks, smiling. Michael then steps over to Diana as well, extending another identical small black device to her. MICHAEL And one for you. Diana takes it, looking it over with interest. DIANA Thank you. But aren't you concerned about handing us a timer with your world's coordinates? After all the trouble you went to to shield this world from Kromagg invasion? MICHAEL (shaking his head) The Kromaggs won't dare to invade Quinn's Earth Prime. It'll be off-limits to them by punishment of death now that the virus has taken hold of it. Besides, they won't be looking for Quinn, Colin, or anyone else on that world to have the coordinates. They believe they're both dead. And as for you and Mallory, well, they won't be looking for you either. But just in case they DO come charging into your homeworld... He reaches around into his back pocket, pulling out a small vial of red liquid. MICHAEL (continued) I took a sample of Rembrandt's blood for you last night. It should carry the virus you all say helped free his world. Diana nods, smiling, and takes it from him. DIANA Thanks for all your help. MAGGIE (to Michael) By the way... speaking of how your world is shielded. I almost forgot to mention it, but in your slidecage... MICHAEL There's two people there? Rembrandt smiles. REMBRANDT You know? MICHAEL (correcting him) Knew. Our sensors picked up the reprogramming of the slidecage, as I said. They also picked up the fact that there were no Kromaggs left in the slidecage. Just two humans. In light of this fact, we developed a temporary "back door" and got those two people out. REMBRANDT (smiling) So Jules is free. MAGGIE (smiling) And Thomas, too. Quinn, Maggie, Remmy and Colin all smile happily at that thought. After of moment of reflecting on that, Quinn puts his hand on his brother's shoulder. QUINN You sure you want to do this, bro? You can always stay here with mom and dad. It's up to you. Colin shakes his head. COLIN I'd rather be with you and the rest of my friends, brother. There'll be plenty of chances for us to slide back here and be with our parents still. Quinn smiles. ELIZABETH So, what happens next for all of you? Now that the never-ending slide is over, I suppose it's time for you all to settle down. QUINN I guess I'll probably go back to my quantum physics research. See if I can open any new doors. He laughs for a moment, thinking. QUINN Maybe I can finally get that anti-gravitational device working. Maggie thinks for a moment before offering her response. MAGGIE I'd like to get a nice, stable desk job in the local military, but I don't know if they take officers from other worlds. The group smiles. Maggie giggles slightly before continuing. MAGGIE Maybe I could do some work in law enforcement. Who knows? QUINN (smiling) What, no time for a relationship? She grins happily up at Quinn as they both throw an arm around one another. Elizabeth looks warmly over at Maggie. They share a moment of eye contact, both holding no small amount of care in their eyes. REMBRANDT The first order of business for me is to see if my mom or any of my family are still on our world. But they might've shipped off somewhere else by the Kromaggs. The mood shifts suddenly at this, faces falling around the room. QUINN I'm sorry Cryin' Man. Rembrandt shakes his head. REMBRANDT Don't be. I've had more than enough time to get over that. Everybody needs to move on from their losses in life, and get back to going for the gains. Once I know for sure, it'll be time for me to move on from it for good. (grinning) Maybe I can even think about getting my music career going again. QUINN (smiling) "The Return of the Cryin' Man." Should be pretty big. REMBRANDT (grinning and nodding) Right on, right on. MICHAEL (to Colin) What about you, Colin? Colin looks down, a visage of uncertainty on his face. COLIN I'm not sure. I might want to join my brother in his research. I'm sure it would be fascinating. QUINN (smiling) I'd be happy to have you, bro. COLIN Then again, maybe I could join Maggie in her fight for justice. At least I have enough knowledge of pistols to be of some help. MAGGIE (smiling) I've got one for you -- you could teach horseback riding. I'd be your first student. I haven't gotten a chance to ride in too long. Colin grins now. COLIN (to Maggie, grinning) Maybe. I'm sure you're a natural, though. That double of yours with all of the neural implants and genetic engineering in her certainly was. Elizabeth looks over to Mallory and Diana. ELIZABETH What about you two? DIANA Oh, I guess it's about time I finally made up with my parents. Travelling through the multiverse hasn't made me love the way they treated me, but seeing all of you... (gesturing between Quinn, Colin, Michael, and Elizabeth) ...together, after all the trouble you went to to finally get here, has made me realize that family is too important to let anything come between it. She smiles at the Mallorys. They all grin in return. DIANA That, plus I'll need them to give me someplace to live. Everyone laughs at that, especially Mallory. DIANA Other than that, well, I'm not sure it's a good idea to dedicate my life to quantum dislocation research anymore. I doubt that my homeworld is ready for it. But I think that the old Egyptian timer will keep me busy. Even in its current state, I can't wait to see what it can teach me about the Egyptian technology, and to study that living gem that ran it. Plus it's in bad enough shape that I don't think it will reveal too much information about sliding if anyone looked at it. QUINN Which reminds me... listen, as much as I understand the need for the new timers, I'm not sure we should keep any sliding equipment other than what we need. On my world, they've seen the Kromaggs, they've seen sliding. It's not as big of a deal. But... (to Diana) ...on YOUR world, it's a different story. Maybe it would be best if you destroyed Logan's timer after you landed. DIANA (to Quinn) You're sure? QUINN (nodding) After our first couple of slides, the professor told us that we should think about destroying the technology. It's what he would want. So I'm sure. Diana nods back. DIANA (to Quinn) All right, then. COLIN (to Mallory) How about your future, Mallory? MALLORY I dunno. I could always go back to school, maybe study Civil War history. (beat, smiling) Then again, there's something to be said for the call of the open road. The group laughs. Diana shakes her head. REMBRANDT (to Mallory) That does seem about your speed, Fog Boy. MALLORY Yeah, well, it's not like I've got a place to live anymore either. DIANA I could always try to talk my family into setting you up with us. Of course, considering the nature of my current relationship with them, that might not be wise... MALLORY (shaking his head) Nah, it's no problem. My buddy Jack probably won't mind me shacking up with him for a while. QUINN (reading off of the timer) Just one minute left. Michael and Elizabeth walk over closer to their sons. ELIZABETH Goodbye, boys. Come back soon... you and your friends are always welcome here. COLIN We will. You can bet on that. Quinn embraces his father, who hugs him back tightly. QUINN I feel like I've spent most of these years on a quest for a father like you. I still remember losing two of them. I can't tell you how happy I am to have you now. MICHAEL I still remember losing two sons. Thank God I got them back. Michael moves over to Colin, Elizabeth stepping up to Quinn. QUINN You know, I have another mother waiting for me. ELIZABETH (nodding) I know. QUINN But just because I know her better than you... that doesn't mean that I think any less of you for that. And I hope you just as well, soon. They embrace. Over with Colin and Michael, they too are hugging. COLIN I've gone so long without parents that I nearly forgot how it felt to have them. Now I have more family than I'd ever hoped for. MICHAEL Well, we're not going anywhere, son. Elizabeth steps up to Colin next. COLIN Mom... Now it's their turn to embrace. No more words are needed. Quinn extends Logan's timer outward, towards the elevator. QUINN It's time. He hits the button. The orange vortex appears in the room, in front of the elevator doors. Quinn puts the timer in his pocket, then turns and smiles at his parents. Colin steps over with him. They both run into the vortex first. Maggie looks at Elizabeth Mallory. MAGGIE (barely audible over the vortex sound) Thank you. Elizabeth nods. Maggie turns and runs, jumping into the vortex like a diver. Mallory nods to Michael with a grin, then takes off for the vortex. Diana just shrugs to Michael, as though wishing to make an excuse for Mallory, and then runs in behind him. Rembrandt waves to the Mallory parents with a warm smile before following suit. EXT. GOLDEN GATE PARK - SUNRISE A pathway goes by the grass here, where the orange vortex sits open in front of a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Quinn and Colin are already standing in the grass here, with Maggie walking over to them. Mallory falls out on his stomach. Diana follows him, landing on Mallory's back, causing them both to erupt in laughter. As Diana gets up, and Mallory pushes himself up off of the grass, Rembrandt shoots out and lands on his rear in the grass. Rembrandt gets up just as the swirling orange vortex closes up behind him. He smiles as he looks up, over to the statue. REMBRANDT Gool old Abe. They must've rebuilt him after we got the 'maggs out. QUINN (looking around) I said we'd be back. Quinn whips out the timer and checks it. QUINN We've got barely over half an hour until Mallory and Diana have to slide. Turning, he hands the timer over to Diana, who nods her thanks. QUINN We'd better get moving. REMBRANDT Where to? QUINN (smiling) Home. The others nod, smiling, and the group heads out. EXT. MALLORY HOUSE - SUNRISE A picket fence surrounds the grass yard. Our group of six walks up along the sidewalk. Quinn, at the head of them, slows as he nears the gate at the front of the walkway up to the house. Rembrandt looks at Quinn expectantly. He pushes on the gate lightly. It swings open, squeaking audibly as it goes. Quinn turns and grins at Rembrandt and Maggie. Rembrandt nods back, pleased and confident. They start up the walkway, but, only halfway to the door, it flies open. MRS. AMANDA MALLORY, Quinn's adoptive mother, runs out. AMANDA Oh my GOD! QUINN! QUINN (quiet) Mom... She flies into his arms, and they embrace each other like they haven't seen one another in years... because they haven't. Tears stream down Amanda Mallory's face. AMANDA I thought I had lost you forever. QUINN You should've known I wouldn't give up until I came back. Maggie steps up alongside Quinn just as Amanda breaks off their hug. Amanda turns to look at Maggie. AMANDA I should've believed in you. MAGGIE It doesn't matter. I told you that you would hold him again. And now you will. Every day. She smiles warmly at Maggie. AMANDA (smiling) Thank you. QUINN (to Amanda, surprised) The house looks... great. AMANDA (smiling) It WAS a little run-down with no one living here. I had Jake help me fix it up. He was in hiding for most of the occupation. She sighs, smiling more. AMANDA I even fixed up your room just like you left it. I really was hoping you would come back... I guess I had just lost so much of that hope... Quinn smiles, nodding reassuringly... then, suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, a look of horror comes over his face in an instant. AMANDA What? What is it? MAGGIE Quinn, what's wrong? QUINN I just had the most horrible thought... He takes off, running into the house. INT. MALLORY HOUSE - QUINN'S BEDROOM - SUNRISE Quinn runs into his bedroom and flings open his closet door. Falling to his knees, he starts to dig through the bottom of the closet. Maggie comes in the doorway. MAGGIE Quinn? What's wrong? Rembrandt follows behind her. REMBRANDT What's going on, Q-Ball? Quinn pulls out a large book, and opens it, flipping madly through the translucent pages, divided into rows of rectangles... until he stops. He points at one particular rectangle on the page. ANGLE ON - PAGE He's pointing at a baseball card of Roger Marris, from the '91 Topps collection. Obviously this is a holding book for baseball cards. Quinn flips the page over, and we follow the page to the other side of the book. On the back of the card's compartment, he runs his finger down, looking for something... ANGLE CLOSE - ON CARD Next to Marris' homerun record, Quinn's finger stops next to an asterix. ANGLE ON - QUINN He rolls his eyes back and grins, sighing in relief. ANGLE BACK QUINN Nevermind guys. Just needed to check on something. It's cool. Diana and Mallory, now also just outside the doorway, step inside the room behind Maggie and Rembrandt. Diana holds up the timer. DIANA Mallory and I have to go. EXT. MALLORY HOUSE - SUNRISE The orange sun is now almost entirely over the horizon, the sky still red. Back on the walkway up to the front porch of the house, Quinn, Colin, Maggie and Rembrandt stand with Amanda, all facing Diana and Mallory. REMBRANDT We sure are gonna miss you guys. DIANA We'll miss all of you too. Rembrandt extends a hand to Mallory. Mallory pats him on the shoulder, shaking his hand. MALLORY Don't drive those fans too wild. REMBRANDT (grinning) I'll try to keep them under control. Diana and Maggie hug. DIANA You've been a great friend. MAGGIE (smiling) So have you. Quinn lays a hand on Mallory's shoulder in friendship. QUINN (to Mallory) We'll see you around... Quinn. MALLORY (grinning) Don't be a stranger, Quinn. They both laugh. Rembrandt embraces Diana. REMBRANDT Keep your nose clean, girl. DIANA (smiling) Will do. Mallory nods to Colin. MALLORY (to Colin) Watch out for yourself. Colin nods back with a smile. Diana looks back and forth between both Quinn and Colin, who stand side by side. DIANA I wish we had gotten a chance to know each other better. I'm sure we could've been great friends. COLIN (smiling) I think we already are. She smiles back at him. Diana looks at the timer and turns towards the front gate, hitting the button. Again, the orange vortex swirls in the air. Diana tucks the timer back into her jacket. Turning back, she looks at the others. DIANA (shouting over the vortex) Come visit us soon! She turns and runs for the wormhole, hopping in. Mallory lazily mock-salutes the group, smiling and nodding. He then turns and follows Diana, jumping and disappearing into the vortex. ANGLE ON - AMANDA, QUINN, COLIN, MAGGIE, AND REMBRANDT The group of them line up, their arms extending around each the shoulders of each person next to them. Amanda Mallory, Quinn Mallory, Colin Mallory, Maggie Beckett, and Rembrandt Brown. We PAN up, as they look up into the vortex. The orange light shimmers on their faces. Their expressions contain no small hint of awe -- they stare into the wormhole as though seeing its wonder for the first time. FADE TO WHITE FADE IN EXT. HIGHWAY OVERPASS - SUNRISE An empty cement bridge over the highway. The bridge is empty because of the early hour. The highway isn't quite as bustling as one would expect, either. The orange vortex opens up, hovering a few feet in the air over the firm ground of the overpass. Diana shoots out, landing on her feet in a crouch. Mallory follows closely behind her, hitting the ground rolling. He rolls over a couple of times before stopping, pushing himself up. On his feet once more, Mallory walks over and stands alongside Diana, who is staring back into the orange vortex. They both sit there together, as awed by it as their friends were back on the other side. A long beat. We hold on their faces for a few more moments, the light from the vortex reflecting off of them, as the realization washes over their face that this was likely the final slide. The vortex closes up. Both Mallory and Diana seem to exhale at once, both relieved and let down to see it end. Reaching into her jacket, Diana pulls out Logan's timer, turning it over in her hands. DIANA Care to do the honors? Mallory smiles and takes it from her, looking at the readout. He just shakes his head, as though rejecting its offer. Mallory steps over to the edge of the overpass, looking out over the raised concrete guardrail. He nods to the highway. This should do nicely. In a swift, easy movement, he pulls back and flings the timer, sidearmed, out into the air. CLOSE ON - TIMER ...as it hits the concrete ground of the highway below. A beat. A car zooms by at 70 miles an hour, crunching over the timer with two tires. Bits and pieces of it now scatter the road. ANGLE ON - MALLORY AND DIANA Mallory nods in approval. It's done. DIANA A day in L.A. traffic, there won't be anything left but dust. Mallory just continues to nod, squinting slightly in the light of the sunrise. Then, he turns, looking back into the direction the vortex was. He seems to stare at it as though it's still there. MALLORY Think we'll really see them again? Diana steps up alongside of him, looking in the same direction with him once more. She shrugs. DIANA Who knows? Infinite worlds... MALLORY (smiling) Infinite possibilities. The two friends turn to face the east and join hands, walking off towards the bright orange glow of the sunrise. FADE TO WHITE FADE IN INT. MALLORY HOUSE - DAY The sun shines into the dining room from outside. Quinn, Colin, Rembrandt and Maggie tell about their adventures. We can't hear them, we only see them talking excitedly. All are smiling. FADE TO BLACK CLOSING CREDITS THE END