Dreams That You Dare To Dream
Part 5D
By Cathy Roberts
glroberts@bigfoot.com

See Part 5A for "Thanks you"'s and disclaimers.



Bobby was stretched out on the floor of the study, helping Bethany build a Lego house. He kept glancing at his watch, knowing that Susan's lateness in getting home was mostly likely due to a last minute emergency at work. But, usually she would call to let them know that she was running late. She hadn't called tonight.

"Are you sure that John is all right?" Laura asked him for the tenth time since John declined to come down for dinner.

"He said he was tired and that's to be expected. He had a good appetite at lunch and breakfast, so I don't think we need to worry," Bobby replied.

"Put the pink block here, Daddy," Bethany instructed.

Bobby added another block to the walls of the house. "I think he's just getting overwhelmed by his memories."

Laura nodded, her eyes thoughtful. "I'm going to go check on him."

"I'll go with you," Roland said.

Bobby watched his parents leave the room. He hoped that John was feeling better, but he couldn't shake the feeling that all
was not right with his baby brother. John had definitely remembered the accident in the tree house. It had been after talking about that when John suddenly felt bad. Had remembering the accident also triggered memories of what had happened after John had run away? Had he been taken advantage of by people who found him? Bobby inwardly shuddered as he considered that possibility. While it was true that a good portion of the street runners were people who were simply down on their luck, there were some who were evil. They were the ones giving the rest of them the bad reputation around the city. Visions of a modern day "Oliver Twist" played through Bobby's mind, that Corday woman taking the place of Nancy. Wasn't that character murdered? His thoughts on that were interrupted when Susan walked into the room. She dropped to the floor beside Bethany and gave their daughter a big hug and kiss, then leaned over the Lego house to give Bobby a kiss.

"Sorry I'm so late. There was something I had to take care of," she said.

"Must have been important, huh?"

"Yeah, it is. Bobby, it's about John. Where is he?"

"Upstairs in bed. He hasn't been feeling well for most of the day. What about him?"

"I think it's better for me to talk to him alone, okay?"

"No, it's not okay, Susan. You were the one who insisted that your patient was my brother. And you were right about that. He's back with us and he's going to stay with us. If you know something about him, bad or good, we all need to know."

"I'll be right back." As Susan left the room, Millicent, Robert and Barbara entered from the other doorway.

"Grand Pop! Lookit what I made with Daddy," Bethany jumped to her feet, anxious to share her architectural talents with her
great-grandfather.

"That's a beautiful house, Bethany. Simply beautiful." The love that Robert Carter felt for his great-grandchild was clearly etched on his face. Bobby smiled as his daughter climbed up into Robert's lap, telling him about her day.

Bobby's smile soon faded as he turned his head in time to see Susan leading a group of people into the study. A group of people that included Elizabeth Corday. He had seen the security tapes from work, they all had. And what were Doug Ross and Carol Taglieri doing here? Bobby got to his feet.

"What's going on, Susan? What do they have to do with John, and above all else, why is she here?" Bobby indicated Elizabeth.

"They're here because they're friends of John's. It's a long story, Bobby, but I believe everything they have to say."

Bobby looked into his wife's eyes, seeing that she did believe whatever it was she was talking about. He could feel an oppressive tension in the room, not all of it coming from him.

"Bethany, why don't you go to the kitchen and see if Corrine has any cookies for your snack?" Robert said as he put the
child on the floor.

"Is that okay, Daddy?"

"That's fine with me, honey. Tell Corrine that you'll need to stay there for a little while, okay?"

"'Okay."  Bethany skipped through the other door.

"Okay, talk," Bobby said.



John had spent all afternoon fighting with his feelings. Despite knowing that Bobby couldn't be alive, he didn't want to believe it.
But, he found himself unable to come up with a reason why his brother was in the here and now. He finally decided that it
was just the concussion that was making him think that Bobby had died, but that small voice kept telling him that it wasn't the
case. When he heard a light knock on his door, he wanted to pretend to be asleep because he didn't want to have to talk with Bobby any more tonight. Didn't want to have to think about the fact that he was talking with a dead man. But, he called out "Come in" anyway, and he smiled broadly when he saw his parents walk into his room.

"Feeling better?" Laura asked as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"A little. I think I overdid things today when I went out walking," he lied. How could he tell his mother that Bobby was supposed to be dead? How could he find the words to tell her that he could remember her at Bobby's funeral, crying so hard that everyone thought their own hearts would break from her pain? He couldn't do that to her. He loved her too much, even if she didn't seem to acknowledge that love often enough. Where did that thought come from? he asked himself. From the very minute that she had seen him again, his mother had been nothing but loving toward him. His father, too.  Not like the way they normally behaved. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts.

"Do you have a headache?" Roland asked as he saw the painful expression on John's face.

"A small one. It'll go away. I was just thinking about how much I've missed the two of you."

Laura gently touched his cheek. "Not nearly as much as we've missed you, dear."

"What in Hell is going on downstairs?" Roland asked as the sound of voices raised in anger reached them.

"I have no idea. I thought I heard Susan coming home as we were headed up here, but that wouldn't create such an argument,"
Laura replied.

John started as a female voice made itself heard above all the others, demanding silence. It was a voice that he always felt compelled to obey. "Kerry?" he asked, wondering what she was doing here at his grandparent's house.

"Is that someone you know?" Roland sharply asked. If John answered yes, then that meant the woman in question had to have
some knowledge of where his son had been these past years. And Roland was determined to find that out in any way he could.

"It's Kerry Weaver. She's my boss at work." John blinked as more pieces of his life settled back into his mind. This wasn't
right. It wasn't right at all. "Excuse me, I need to get downstairs," John said as he got out of bed. He had not bothered to change clothes when he went to nap earlier, so he only needed to step into his shoes before leaving his room, his parents close behind. As they descended the stairs, they could hear more voices, and John could put a name to all of them: Carol, Doug, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been at the hospital. Or had she? Maybe that was a different Elizabeth Corday? He wondered about that thought for the brief moment it took for him to enter the study.

Everyone went silent as they saw John standing there. As all eyes turned on him, John remembered where he was and what
had been happening over the past days. This wasn't his world. These were not his relatives. The love these people had was for his double. It wasn't a love meant for him. It never had been. He swayed a little then, and immediately felt gentle hands guide him to the couch, then his father -- no, Roland Carter, not his father -- sat down beside him. Laura sat to his other side, the two of them effectively cutting him off from the others in the room.

"What's going on here?" Roland demanded to know, his arm tight around John's shoulders.

"These...people claim that they're from a parallel Earth and that John is their companion and not a member of our family,"
Bobby said, his face flushed with anger.

"Bobby, if you would just listen to them, then you would see that they're telling the truth," Susan said.

"That has got to be the most ridiculous story I've ever heard, and I can assure you that in my career as a lawyer, I've heard
plenty of cockamamie stories," Roland stated.

"It's true," John whispered. God, he wished so much that it wasn't, but it was. This was not his family. His family didn't know how to give love.

"What?" Roland asked, not sure he had heard his son right.

John nodded. "It's true. I finally remembered everything when I saw them in here. We are from another Earth. I can't really explain what happened to us, just that we suddenly found ourselves somewhere we didn't belong. The person responsible for that, made it possible for us to get back home, but we have to pass through other Earths in order to get there. We have no idea how long it will take, but each world we visit brings us closer to our own world." He looked at Laura, his heart breaking as he knew he had to tell her goodbye. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wish that I was your son."

"You are," she said.

John shook his head. "No. My mother is on another planet."

A solitary tear slid down Laura's cheek as she looked over at the people standing with Susan. How could Susan bring them
here to say such lies? They had to be lies, right? This was her son. She could feel that in her heart. But, if he really was her Johnny, then why would he be sitting there telling her that he wasn't her son?

Laura looked back at John, her own dark eyes probing his, and she saw in their depths that he was telling her the truth. At
least as he knew it. Looking past him, she saw that Roland was getting ready to argue with everyone. He was always her protector, and now was ready to protect her heart once again. And protect their son. No, the man who should be their son, she corrected herself. But, all his words and actions wouldn't mean a thing if John was telling the truth. And there was no need to get Susan all upset. It wasn't good for the baby. Not good at all.

Hoping to forestall Roland, and to ease the heart of the man beside her, Laura reached out and hugged John tightly. "You're
the one who isn't understanding, John. You may have been born on another planet, but you're still John Carter. You are my son."

"I can't stay here," he said, hoping he sounded sure of himself. is heart wanted to stay, but his mind knew that he couldn't. It
wouldn't be fair to the others, no matter how nice this world appeared. "We have to get back home and my friends can't get
there without me. It's an all or nothing deal."

"So, you're here to take him away?" Roland asked with a catch in his voice. He didn't know why Laura believed John. Believed all of them. But, she did. He wasn't sure what to believe, but he knew he needed time to come to terms with this.

Kerry nodded. "We'll be able to leave again at midnight."

"Midnight." Roland glanced at the clock on the mantel. "That's a little over four hours from now. You can certainly let us have
four more hours with him, can't you?" Four hours in which to find out if John was telling the truth. To find out if this was his son. Or not.

"Of course," Carol said. She was fighting back her own tears as she watched Carter and his "family" interact. She had overheard enough over the years to know that this was not the way his family behaved.

Susan cleared her throat, thinking she had a way to keep them occupied while Roland and Laura spent more time with John. She knew they hadn't eaten dinner, and neither had she. Getting something to eat could take two hours if they ate slowly.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen and see if we can't find something for dinner?" she asked Carol.

"That's a good idea," Carol said. "Carter, if you need us, well, I guess you know where to find us." It hadn't escaped Carol's
notice that this house was an exact replica of the house owned by Carter's grandparents. She did wonder about the painting on the wall of the music room. If Carter was missing here, then whose likeness graced that wall?



Many hours later, they gathered together again in the study.  The only people missing were Millicent, Robert and Bethany, who
had been put to bed not long after Susan returned home.

Kerry, Elizabeth, Carol and Doug stood off to one side of the room, trying to be unobtrusive as Carter said his farewells. Kerry had a million questions for Carter, but figured they could all wait until they reached the next world. Especially the question
about how he was doing emotionally. She could see that he was physically fine, and that brought her some comfort.



John's eyes were full of tears as Laura Carter kissed his cheek. "I don't want to leave here," he said for the hundredth time since he had remembered where he was from.

"You have to go. This isn't your home, remember? As much as I would like to keep you here, I can't.  I know what it's like to
lose a child and I don't want your mother going through that twice."

"I don't think she'd notice." John wasn't just referring to the fact that time wasn't progressing back on their Earth.

Laura caressed his cheek. "I think you're wrong about that, John. So very wrong. It's almost midnight. You need to leave."

"I'll never forget you," he said, grasping her hand tightly.

"And I'll never forget you, either. I know that technically, you're not my son, but having you here, even for such a short time, helped a lot. It was nice to know the man my child could have been, should have been. And I thank you for that. I'll miss you, John Carter."

"I'll miss you, too, Mom."

Laura placed another quick kiss to his cheek, then turned and walked away. Bobby and Susan were still standing there and
Bobby walked up to him.

"I hope that you and your friends find your own world soon."

"Me, too. Thank you for all you did for me. For us."

"Hey, that's what big brothers are for, right?" Bobby playfully punched John in the arm, then enveloped him in a bear hug. Both men hung on tightly to each other, not wanting to let go of the brother each had lost. "I'm sorry that your brother is gone."

"And I'm sorry that you lost your brother.  But, I can't say I'm sorry I met you. I just wish..."

"I know." Bobby looked up at something above John's shoulder. "I think your ride is here."

John turned around and saw the beginnings of the vortex. "Yeah." He looked back at Bobby. "Take real good care of Susan and your kids, okay?"

"I will. And you take care of yourself, John."

"I'll try my best. Goodbye."

"Bye."

John then said a quick goodbye to Barbara, not feeling as if he was going to miss her. Except for her career, she wasn't all
that different from his sister. Then Roland approached him, also hugging him.

"I know you're in a hurry, so I'll make this quick. I would have been proud to have a son like you, John. I hope that your own
father shares that feeling."

John could only nod at that since he couldn't remember a time when his father had ever told him that he was proud of anything John had done.

Roland reached out and tucked something bulky into the pocket of John's shirt. John started to take it out, but Roland stopped him. "I heard your friends talking about being low on money. Keeping you from starving is the least I can do to help."

"You don't need to do that, sir. We have items that we can sell for cash."

Roland nodded. "I do need to do this. You may not have been born on this world, but you are a Carter, and here, at least, Carters take care of their own. And that extends to friends."

John nodded. "Thank you."

"I hope you find your home soon...son," Roland was smiling, but it was a sad smile that found a reflection in the one on John's
face.

"Thank you.  I hope that you find out what happened to your son."

"Carter..." Doug warned as the vortex began to grow larger.

John waved goodbye to Susan, who was standing hand in hand with Bobby, then walked over to his friends. Kerry smiled up at him, gently squeezing his hand. Doug put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Carol hugged him. Elizabeth gave him a quick kiss and a hug. As the vortex grew larger, John lifted Kerry up into his arms, assuring her that it didn't hurt his ribs. The
touches of his friends was reassuring as they made contact with him and each other. Then they were caught up in the brightness, each one hoping that they would next find themselves home.

"Roland?" Millicent called from the doorway, a wide smile on her face. "There's a telephone call for you. It's David Garcia.
They've been running the fingerprints from the street runners rounded up yesterday and it seems they've come across another
fingerprint match for John. It looks as if you've really found him this time."

As the glow began to fade along with the people bathed in it, Bobby could swear that he saw John smile and give him a thumbs-up sign. He wished that things would turn out as well for John and his friends as it was turning out for his family.