This work of adult fiction, loosely based on characters portrayed by Russell Crowe, includes adult language and experiences; you have been warned. No copyright infringement on the original work is intended.Copyright Diana Walker 2005.

DIANA

I hate summer television. Even with year-round series premieres and something “new” on every night, so much of it is still trash. I have access to over 400 hundred channels with the dish, and there’s still nothing worth watching tonight. Holly has hopped up onto the bed and flopped down as only an overweight Labrador can do. I needed to get up before Okie did his three-circle-twirl and put in my tried and true, fail safe, always interesting DVD before he gets grouchy about being disturbed.

I prop myself up against the brass headboard and manuever Okie so that I could see over his pointy ears only to be treated to his growling displeasure. As the movie started I sigh loud enough for Holly to feel like she needed to snuggle me. Ah, yes, I do love an Australian accent – the movie, not Holly; she sounds Canadian with a Texas accent. Maybe this time I’ll be able to see how he switches the money. Even after all these times of watching, I still can’t see the switch. Damn that editor! It may be the only thing he got right. All in all, I could just kill this editor. That has got to be the worse editing of a kiss I’ve ever seen in my life; even I could have done better.

God, that Dino is so charming. I reach over and rub Okie’s ears. “Just like you, little man.” And Terry Thorne is so much like so many of the officers I’ve worked around over the years. But, as a professional, I could look though never touch. Why couldn't I meet a Terry Thorne outside the workplace? Or in the workplace now that I am so peripherally involved. Dammit! Maybe I should hang out in feed stores more often; at least I might meet a cowboy. Well, that one’s over, and I’m still not sleepy. Next? Gladiator. Sure.

For someone who wants to go to sleep, I’m certainly picking films that will keep me awake, aren’t I? I shove my hip under Okie’s ribcage to jar him awake and piss him off enough so that he will move on his own, thus sparing me the growl, crawl out of bed and put away the Proof of Life DVD, replacing it in the player with Gladiator. I’ll put Sir Ridley’s commentary on …that always puts me to sleep.

Crawling back into bed between two dogs is a very precise operation. First find a spot far enough away from Okie so that he won't be jostled so I can get onto the bed. Then slide between the two sleeping dogs equidistant so neither is awakened. All that must be done at cat’s stalking pace. They don’t need Ridley Scott to put them to sleep, but my slightest movement is cause for much stirring. The dogs consider any movement on my part as signalling play time.

By the time I am back in viewing posture, the robin scene is on. Nah, I haven’t seen that look before …have I? I freeze-frame it. I have seen that smile before; that smile was on Reags’ Max’s face when he was looking at Rabbit. That same fondness was on his face. Man, I’m hallucinating.

Moments later I am staring at the screen and the scowl on the General’s face. I’ve seen that scowl, too, and it was directed at me …at lunch …at Jeroboam. The remote slips out of my fingers. This cannot be happening. I back up the scenes to the robin one and watch it again. I have seen that smile before, and Rabbit has, too.

Hey, I’m already asleep! That’s it. I’m not hallucinating. I’m asleep and dreaming. That’s the explanation. No, I’m not asleep; I'm propped up with a bunch of pillows behind me. I throw the bolster pillows on the floor and scooch downwards so my head is on my comfortably indented pillow. I turn onto my right side and close my eyes because when you’re asleep, your eyes are closed. I’ve fallen asleep with my eyes open; that is the only logical explanation. I had almost drifted off when the soft words coming from the TV speakers jolted me like a claxon alarm going off.

“How did he die?”

I popped bolt upright in the bed, Okie be damned. I grab the remote and replay the scene. I’d heard those words before, in that same luscious baritone. I’d heard Reags’ Max say that. To me. Standing in my barn. The look on his face has been the look from the scene with the robin, but the words were the same.

I have to do something about this Crowe obsession. This is getting too weird. Kind of like seeing heather brown suits everywhere. I can only handle one obsession at a time. I choose heather brown suits. Heather brown suits? Oh shit! Now I have to go back to Proof of Life.

I know this movie too well. Straight to the scenes option. Okay …there’s the Terry heather brown suit. Flip to scene choices. There’s the other one on Dino. Right then. I have hallucinated on Government property. There goes my security clearance.

I need to examine the Dino heather brown suit. Now that is just crazy. No man keeps a suit for four years. It couldn't be the same one. I wish I had bought better TV's; the one in the living room has no better resolution. If I can find a fairy godfather, a high-definition TV is going on my Christmas list. I'll never be able to tell if the redhead I saw at Jeroboam was wearing this same heather brown suit. I am sure every red-headed male in the world has a heather brown suit; it looks so good with their coloring. I will never figure this out watching this movie.

I put the Gladiator DVD in again. No, this is too fucking weird. Now I am sitting cross-legged on the floor too close to the TV; I am in the “mom warning zone” because I would not have Okie snap at me again by getting back into bed. Besides, I want to see every frigging thing on this screen. Okay, I have too much energy. I’m starting to behave like Dino; I need to pace.

After several laps around the bedroom, I pick Okie up – obviously waking him and earning not only a growl but a snap - and sit him down in front of the TV. “Okie? Is this the guy? Is this Reags’ Max?” Now that he was awake and listening, he’d been watching me while I spoke, but as soon as Max’s voice started again, Okie’s head snapped around to look at the TV. He only does that when he recognizes a voice. Any time I play a message from Reags on my answering machine, he walks over and watches the machine. My dog ..my proof. I hustle both dogs outside because I don’t’ want them tearing up the house while I’m gone, throw on clothes, grab my keys and run for the Tahoe. If I am crazy, I need to be somewhere safe, and Reags is the safest place I know …or is it now Reags and Max? If I'm not crazy, they have the answers, or I hope they do.

*

I made the 45 miles from my house to Reags’ in just under half-an-hour and never saw a cop, thank God. The house is dark as I pull into the drive behind Max’s Bentley and bail for the front door. I knock the “shave and a hair cut, two bits” rhythm, calling the dogs’ names simultaneously.

“Bear? Pandora? Bailey?” If the dogs hear my voice and go into their happy bark, I stand a chance of not getting shot because I know that at night, she always comes to the door with that damned .38 in her hand. I call Reags name just to be safe. Moments later, Max opens the door. Bare feet, bare chest, rumpled hair, half-buttoned 501s, and Reags is just behind him looking at me as if I’d just dropped in from Mars. Well, perhaps I have and just don’t know it yet.

“Is Dino really Dino?” Max’s eyes shoot wide open, and he grabs my hand and pulls me inside, closing the door before he turns to look at me.

“Yes.”

“Oh, my God. I’ve chewed out Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions?” My voice just sort of trailed off as Max looked at Reags.

“I take it she watches Gladiator on a routine basis as well?”

“No, she doesn’t …but obviously, she’s watched it tonight because she’s got your rank and titles right this time, and she always screws them up unless she’s just seen it.”

“I live in a world where Terry Thorne really exists?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, God …I need alcohol.” Reags turned toward the kitchen.

“I’ll get the bottle.” Max guides me toward the couch, apparently thinking that if he didn’t support me along the way, I’ll fall on my face in the floor. He may have been right. Reags returns with the scotch and bourbon bottles and three glasses, pouring before she sat. I’m a fast drinker, but not a chugging drinker. Tonight I chug the bourbon and hold out the glass for a refill.

“How? Thread theory? Alternate realities? Parallel universes …that’s how this works. Dino’s really Dino?”

“Yes.” That from Max …again.

“You two had better hope to God that one of those parallel universes likes you because I’m about to slap both of you into one of them. And Dino is really Dino.” Reags laughs, but Max is still as serious as a heart attack.

“Yes.”

“Max? Can you say anything other than yes? I thought we had this conversation a while ago.” I look at him as some of my pragmatism returned, and an idea occurs to me.

“Nash could explain how this happened, in detail.”

“No, Nash is uncertain, and you will not contact him to inquire.” Oh. Well. The General has spoken. I look at his chest for the first time since walking through the door. Considering his state of undress, I decide speaking to the eyes is perhaps the best choice. If I look anywhere else, I am done, I'm positive.

“Buddy, I’ve seen the bare chest, but don’t you think the partially buttoned levis are a bit much at this point, or are you trying to show me your entire body a bit at a time? My God! I’ve seen most of it anyway!” He blushed as he spoke.

“That was the celluloid Maximus. I am real.” He walks to the bedroom, stops, and turns back as I ask Reags the obvious question.

“How long have you known?”

“Since the weekend after I met Max.”

“And when were you planning on telling me?” Max resumes his walk to their bedroom.

“Dee, Maximus wanted to get to know you. I trust you, but he needed to know you better before telling you. Or until such time as you figured it out on your own.” Well, hell. She knew I would understand that reasoning.

Maximus returns wearing a t-shirt, neatly tucked in and with the 501s buttoned all the way to the waist. He sits in the center of the couch between Reags and me with his arms resting on the back behind both of us. He didn’t have to say it, but I got it. Possession, protection. At this point, we both “belonged” to him.

“Is East Driscoll here?”

“Yes.” Monosyllabic answers from Max, or should I say Maximus? Thank God, I am a civilian and can't be busted in rank. From our several run-ins, I would have been a buck private for the rest of my life.

“What about Jack Aubrey?”

“Yes.”

“And Braddock can teach me to box?”

“You would have to make those arrangements with him yourself.”

“I can do that! Is Hando alive or dead?”

“Alive.”

“Terrence Thorne …Dean O’Reilly …TEO …Thorne, Espan, O’Reilly. The money’s in the Caymans. God, I’m stupid!”

“No, Diana, just unsuspecting. Why should you ever consider the possibility that film characters have come to life?” Max’s voice is as calm as if we were discussing the weather. I reach for the bottle.

“Well, if I am stupid, I may as well be stupid and drunk.” Max takes the bottle from my hand and puts it back on the table.

“No, Diana. You are not stupid, and you do not need to be drunk this night. There is much we need to discuss.”

“Ancestral lands …those weren’t given to your father by an emperor. Those lands were given to you by Marcus Aurelius. You basically told me who you were or had if I’d picked up on it. Jesus …it’s all falling into place now and starting to make sense. No wonder your speech patterns are so formal. And that’s why you expect immediate compliance. A General and an ancient!” I reached around Max for the bourbon and poured another slug into my glass and raised it to the two of them.

“Well, cheers! To a brave new world.” Max sat back again, returning his arms to their former position on the couch.

MAXIMUS

“We do know that some of Crowe’s characters live. We assume that they all live. We know where some of them are but not all. You are not at liberty to attempt locating any of them. To do so would jeopardise all of us.” Diana looked at me.

“That was Dino in the window at Jeroboam …the disreputable womaniser. He’s not that bad, is he?” I sighed before replying.

“Yes, on both counts.” Cassandra shakes her head in wonder, probably because it has taken Diana so long to work it out. Diana continues to …babble. No other word will suffice.

“Dino’s really Dino. I live in a world where Terry Thorne exists …and I stand a chance of meeting him.” At least she has ceased asking questions about my partners, though she appears stuck on them as a topic of conversation. I am expected to reply.

“Not in the immediate future.” Her face fell. Apparently, she lusts for them. I sigh to myself. I am now being forced into the position of telling Terry about Diana as well; however, I will try to postpone that revelation for a time. “Diana, when you meet my partners, you cannot give any indication that you know their true realities. I will tell them that you know who they are, but I – and only I - will decide when the time is appropriate for that discussion.” She bristles, as I know she would.

“There you go, Max, protecting me, when I didn’t ask you to.” Cassandra intervenes.

“Dee, shut up and think for one minute. Maximus has the responsibility to protect not only himself, but Terry, Dino, and every other character that has come to life as a result of Crowe’s talent. If this got out, what the hell do you think would happen to Russell Crowe? He’d be picked up by the FBI or NIMH – or whatever agency had the best claim on him – and slapped into a medical research facility to be studied under a microscope for the rest of his life while they tried to find out what it is in the man that brings his film characters to life! Are you so egocentric as to think this is about YOU? Come on, Dee! You’re smarter that that.” It is clear from the look on Diana’s face that she has not even considered that possibility.

“You’re right. Of course you’re right. Who the hell would I tell? Outside of you two. Terry, Dino? Those two would likely shoot me to minimize the exposure. But I feel like a sailor back from a six month cruise. And you have just told her she can’t go paint the town. You can’t do this to me! I have built in dates now!” She said it humorously but quickly returned to a more serious mein.

“I know, I know. I’ll keep my mouth shut. If for no other reason because I don’t want to see the two of you hurt.”

There is one more thing I must say before leaving the subject. “Diana, you do not have built in dates.”

Cassandra smiles. “Dee, you haven’t wanted a man in your life in years. Why the sudden turnaround?”

Diana smiles in return. “Because these are the best looking men on the planet …what planet are we on now? The attraction here, with these men, is that I can’t run over the majority of them. I can’t bulldoze over them; these are men I could respect. I’ve always said that I either wanted a man I control completely or one that I could meet as an equal or one I could respect and not want to run over. Arthur Baskin is the Casper Milquetoast; really not an option. Terry Thorne is one I can meet as an equal. Max, you’re the one I respect enough not to try to run over the top of, but I still make a run at it because that’s my nature …I have to try. And you’re taken. And now you tell me the meat market's closed?”

I must make her understand. “You are doing the same as you accused me of doing, Diana. You are not listening to everything that is being said. I am not telling you never, I am simply telling you not yet. You will need some time to adjust to these concepts.”

“How long did it take you to adjust, Reags?”

“In reality, a couple of days. Maximus left me alone to mull it over. Remember when I started e mailing you all those scientific links? I was doing the research then. And trying to get you somewhat prepared, assuming anyone could get prepared. I was almost sure you would figure it out once you had been around Maximus for a while.”

“Maximus, how did you adjust? Did Terry find you?”

“In actuality, it is I who found Terry and Dino. They answered my ad …”

“Don't tell me. In Commando Weekly?” Diana has the annoying habit of interrupting when she is vitally interested in the topic or persons. I wonder if it is Terry or Dino she is vitally interested in?

“…offering my services. I was looking for work with the skills I possess. I could not have known Thorne and O'Reilly would respond. I had seen all of Crowe's films and recognized part of the firm's letterhead – Thorne. I could not be sure, however, until the firm flew me to Dallas to interview. When I first met Dean O'Reilly, I was sure I was not the only one who had been transported. However, he gave no indication that he knew anything was amiss.”

“Dino wouldn't. Mr. Suave. Dino is really Dino.” Even though Cassandra has assured me that Terry is the one of my partners in which Diana would be most interested, she is showing no evidence of that.

“Neither Dino nor Terry had any idea their lives had changed. Terry had left Luthan; Dino was intent on setting up his own shop. They were in their own time.”

“How did they find out?” Cassandra asks this question as we had not gone into the details of their change.

“After talking to each of them during the day, they extended my job offer. To celebrate the addition to the firm, we were to dine that evening. I made arrangements with my hotel to have both our movies and a player delivered to my room and showed them Proof of Life. Terry was quite sure that he had been filmed in Chechnya. He had swept the area and could not understand how I had gotten a camera in. For a time he was quite sure I was a government agent. Dino was quite happy 'the old man' had been so sloppy; he was also quite chagrined that his part in the operation had been filmed. I made them each sit again and watch the film to completion. At its end, I answered their questions to the best of my ability.”

“Dino, stupefied. I would have paid money to see that.” Diana does seem most interested in Mr. O'Reilly.

“I'm surprised they didn’t have their cell phones out, and every contact being pulsed. But of course, when they first set up shop, they could have been accepted as having been in deep, highly classified cover. With their skills, their first operation would have cemented them. By the time you got to them, Max, they were clean and in solid with the guys they work with.” From Cassandra's surprised look, Diana has not spoken of her own background; she looked at Cassandra. “What? You knew I worked DoD. I just never told you which agency, and I won't now. You don't have a need to know. Pick your jaw up, Reags. When guys come out of deep cover, strings get pulled for them. With both an Aussie and an American, they got a lot of slack. It would have been pretty easy for them.”

“As they came to find out, those were very valid assumptions, Diana.”

“When did they start believing, Max?”

“About half way through my film. They made me stop the film; I had to show them my scars.”

“How long did it take Terry to start finding everyone?”

“Why do you think it was Terry, Diana?”

“Terry is the planner, the organizer. He wouldn't like the loose ends. He wouldn't like the exposure. He would want to know where everyone is and keep tabs on them. He'll get to them when he thinks they are ready to know, or he has to step in to protect them. He's finally got his family.” She does appear to know a great deal about him, especially considering the fact that they have not met. How disappointed will she be when she finds out about Miranda? Perhaps – like Terry - she also can be content with unrequited feelings.

“He began looking as soon as he had recovered sufficiently from his self-induced alcoholic remorse that his eyes could stand the strain of his computer screen. The second day.”

DIANA

Well, well, well. Terry and Dino flew out of Tecala and into second lives. I felt sorry for Maximus having to be the one who had to tell them. All three of them are practical military men and used to making things happen in confused circumstances. At least Terry and Dino knew enough current science to begin to sort out how it had happened, but all three of them had to deal with the emotional upheaval, granted at different times.

Since Reags had met Maximus, nothing had changed in my life except having to deal with a new man in her life. I had done that before with guys who hadn't time-travelled or jumped a thread. That struck me as funny. Was jumping a thread similar to jumping a broom? I was beginning to get the feeling that with Max and Reags, jumping a broom might not be that far off the mark.

It was time to start getting practical about this new situation.

“Do I call you Max or Maximus now? Frankly, it will be easier for me if I keep thinking and speaking about you as Max, at least until you tell Terry and Dino. If I were to slip and call you Maximus in front of them, it would raise suspicions. Have you slipped up in front of them yet, Reags?”

“I've only talked to Terry once, and I had more pressing matters on my mind.”

“You haven't met them yet? They don't know that you know?” I am astonished. Reags nods and lets Max talk.

“I work with them, Diana. Cassandra has been none of their business thus far. My partners and I do not live in each other's pockets.” Cassandra has got to be Reags. How sweet. For once my sarcasm took a back seat; apparently it takes a state of shock to back it down.

So it took Terry's eyes two days to get the blood out; I will beat his readjustment time. Just a bit of my competitive nature coming out. I also doubted if I were physically capable of consuming the quantity of alcohol he likely had that night, which would make beating his time easier. Of course, my own life hadn't changed, just some circumstances. His whole ground of being had shifted.

“It has been Terry's business at least once. Don't you think sooner is better than later? You may start needing some help having both of us around.” I elbowed him in the ribs. “I'll have to keep acting unaware of what makes you tick and thinking of you as a backwards conservative, at least where women are concerned and calling you on it; can't slip up on that either. Max, we are still in for some rocky times.”

“We will continue to have disagreements, Diana, even though my partners will not know of your knowledge for a time. In truth, I foresee our disagreements continuing even if you allow me my old fashioned ways. In a way, I think they may be a hallmark of our relationship.”

“Let's try this on as a plan. Max, you have to let Terry and Dino know that one of us knows. I don't see any way that it could be me who goes first. How the hell could I know and Reags not? Gotta be Reags. After they vet her, you can introduce me to them. Once they get used to me and my winning ways, I can 'figure it out'.”

“This may be our first disagreement in your new time, Diana.” Uh oh. I think I overstepped my bounds. Generals don't make the plans; they approve them, I thought. Especially in Roman times.

“What doesn't work in that plan, Max?” I know I would get no support from Reags in this. Her silence around him right now indicates she has no intention of getting in the middle of this even if my reasoning was sound. Or she has fallen asleep. The mere fact that I can hardly wait to get my hands on either Terry or Dino means nothing in wanting this plan to go forward soon. Nothing I tell you, nothing at all. Nothing. The General speaks again.

“Plans made at three in the morning after consuming quantities of alcohol are not well advised. I will consider your suggestions when I am less fatigued.” Wonderful. The General will take my ‘suggestions’ under advisement. I am so happy to be of service in this matter. I must be over my shock; my sarcasm has returned.

“Can't ask for more than that. Now, go back to bed; get off the couch so I can get some sleep now that I know I am not crazy. Leave me to my dreams since you won't let me at them for a while.”

At least Reags wasn't asleep and has finally found her voice. “Dee, don't joke about this. We have no idea how Terry and Dino will react. We don't know that they will even be here in the future. Your finding out about Maximus may have changed whatever balance there was.”

“Nooooooooo.” My howl woke their dogs, and all of them started barking. “I get to a world where Terry Thorne exists, and by my arrival I send him spinning off? Is this where I start bargaining with God?” She had to laugh in spite of herself.

“No, bargaining with God won't do you any good. Get some sleep. It all will work out.” Max added his two cents worth.

“Diana, I am glad you know, and your plan does have merit. It is the timing that is suspect.”

I hug Reags and Max and bid them good night. Crawling to the guest bedroom was beyond me. I had Bear climb onto the couch; he had served as a blanket for more than one nap. He could keep me warm again this morning. He was asleep long before I was.

I kept playing through my mind the thought that Dino is really Dino.

NOTES