Angus walked back to the mirror in what some medical person had explained to him was the interim recovery area. His room was furnished like a military barracks, but what did he know? He was still trying to figure out how he’d gone from looking sixty-seven to looking thirty-five during the time he’d been sleeping his life away. He didn’t even recognize the bugger staring back at him. The amount of physical change was shocking enough to make a man swear off Guinness altogether.

He thought of Erin and wondered where she was. She’d left him sleeping and then disappeared. No one would tell him anything about her. They just patted his arm and assured him she would return when she could.

He also wondered what happened to his kilt. He was now wearing a pair of loose waist pants and a shirt in the same material that hung outside. They looked like night clothes, but he’d noticed the doctors all wearing something similar. Maybe it was all they had for someone his size. He’d never been a small man, not even in youth. Most of his time was spent in kilts because pants were fecking uncomfortable on an arse his size.

A knock on his door had him spinning and just as quickly his stomach dipped when he saw it wasn’t who he’d hoped to see. Though exactly why he wanted Erin O’Shea to come torture him was beyond his comprehension. Maybe it was just because they’d been kidnapped together.

“Hello, Mr. MacNamara. I’m Nate, your primary healer. I wanted to come by and update you on your current condition.”

“If I seem confused to see ya, it’s because I am,” Angus declared. “I was feeling just fine before ya stuck me in that fecking box. What condition are ya talking about?”

Angus watched his doctor wrinkle up his forehead in thought. The man looked like he had gas.

“When you came to us, you had several twentieth century diseases we learned were common to people in Universe 6. We had to research and heal each one separately, so that took a bit of time and no small amount of staff, but we were under orders to take care of everything. We of course made our typical DNA adjustment while we were working on your organ regeneration. I must say your body responded quite enthusiastically to the cellular restructuring. Most people gain back a little time, but you seem to have doubled the usual amount of change we see.”

Angus twisted his mouth into a grimace. “How about ya speak all that a little plainer, lad?”

He watched the doctor smile. “Sorry if I seem rude. It's just that I like the way you talk. It’s so very different from what I’m used to hearing. None of the aliens are… well, never mind. You asked for a plainer explanation. Let me think.”

Angus watched his doctor pace and frown. His stomach clenched nervously in preparation to hear bad news.

“While you were in the healing coma, your body reset its biological clock and what you see in the mirror is the age it chose. Everyone in Universe 1 gets their DNA reset in one-third-life, which averages between sixty and eighty-five here, but rejuvenation doesn’t usually net such incredible results as it has in your case. In a Universe 1 person’s life, the rejuvenation process can be repeated a few times, but eventually the body stops responding. The first time is usually the best. You look like one of the aliens with all those muscles. How old are you? Chronologically, I mean?”

“Never ya mind how fecking old I am,” Angus said, wincing internally. “Where is my kilt?”

“Your… oh… your homeland plaid. Technically, the fabric was once an animal so it probably couldn’t come through the portal without causing some problems, especially with the time difference. You’re welcome to look through the other clothing we have that might fit someone of your stature, but it’s all going to look pretty much like what you’re wearing.”

Angus looked down at himself. The pants he wore covered his cock well enough he supposed. Wasn’t that the most important thing for a man? “Okay. Where’s Erin O’Shea hiding?”

“Erin will be back shortly. She’s probably working with the draftees. It’s remarkable how well the woman has adjusted to being here. Unlike her predecessor, she picked up the work immediately. Erin is quite the marvel. We’re all very happy to have you and Ms. O’Shea replace your Universe 1 originals.”

“A marvel, eh?” Angus repeated the comment, huffing at the thought. “More like a pain in someone’s arse. It’s her default setting.” The doctor looked highly disturbed at the insult. “What are ya staring at me like that for?”

“You and Erin… you’re not… I mean, you don’t sound like you were a couple in your universe.”

Angus rolled his eyes. “I guess that depends on what ya consider a couple. We took a run at each other once, but that didn’t exactly take. We do try not to fight like enemies in front of complete strangers. On a good day, I say she helped me match up some of my children with their spouses. Mostly I’m loyal because I still owe her for helping me with that.”

Nate looked away. “How interesting. We all know the portal has quirks and perhaps this is one of them. I guess sometimes even the Guardians don’t get the story right. Mr. MacNamara, do I need to worry about a negative relationship between you and Erin O’Shea?”

“What in bloody hell are ya talking about, man?” Angus demanded. “Yer tone sounds like I just announced an intention to kill her. I promise ya… I would never do that no matter how much the woman tempted me with her vile tongue. I’ll not be spending eternity in hell because of the likes of Erin O’Shea. Now I can’t promise ya I will never yell at her. Doing so would be an outright lie on my part.”

“You two were still legendary matchmakers in Universe 6 though. I mean… weren’t you?” Nate asked.

Angus hung his head and shook it as he studied his feet. They had put paper shoes on him. He must have been really sick to let anyone get by with doing such a thing.

“Feck, I don’t know. Matchmaking is what they called what I did just because I matched up my children… alright, and some friends. Gods, I made one fecking promise to my Mary and now my entire reputation is ruined for all history. I had a thriving farm and sold milk to Lisdoonvarna and other towns. That’s what kept my belly full and how I raised my kids. Matchmaking didn’t pay anything but the occasional chicken or lamb.”

Nate laughed. “I’m so terribly sorry for my amusement. Your language is wonderful. Who’s Mary?”

“Mary’s my dead wife,” Angus said grumpily. “Hellcat and tormentor extraordinaire. Worse than Erin O’Shea, and that’s really saying something. But I’ll deny it to my death if ya tell her I said so.”

“Wow, things were very different in Universe 6 than they were here. So are you saying Erin O’Shea is a free woman as far as you’re concerned?”

“And if I am saying it?” Angus demanded in return, not sure why the doctor’s keen interest in Erin was starting to bother him. Maybe it was because the man had jumped on his revelations too quickly. That was probably it.

Nate shrugged and then smiled. “Erin will have a long line of suitors when the word gets out she’s available.” He fought off the glare aimed at him with a raised hand. “Don’t worry, Mr. MacNamara. The news of your estrangement won’t come from me. You and Erin will have to make that official yourselves here in Universe 1. I’ll be keeping our conversation to myself for a while. Why would I increase my competition for her interest? I find her both beautiful and charming.”

“I can hardly believe my own ears. Ya nearly got me thinking we’re talking about a different woman. Help me out here, Nate. What’s so great about Erin that makes ya so keen on her?”

Nate smiled. “You’re not much like your Universe 1 alternate. However, Erin is exactly like hers. Erin’s compassionate nature when it comes to love is something very revered here in Universe 1. We’ve gotten a little away from those kind of values since we started dealing with all the alien cultures.”

“Now I know we can’t be talking about the same person. Erin O’Shea is a mean harpy with a vicious tongue,” Angus declared.

Nate laughed. “Maybe she is with you, but Erin’s been perfectly pleasant to me. Kind. Caring. In fact, she came every day to see you. The first time—you were still in the rejuvenation cylinder then—she sat on the floor by it and cried over you. It took us a full hour to convince her you weren’t dead or dying. But you did have the beginnings of severe gout, a couple of cancers that had started spreading, and some extensive liver damage that we reversed. There was really no choice except to put you into stasis to let your body heal itself without traumatizing you.”

Angus snorted. He’d had the life he’d had and he wouldn’t apologize for any of it. Where he came from… men lived hard, played hard, and died hard. That was the way of things.

And the idea of Erin O’Shea crying over him was nearly unbelievable. She’d probably just been scared to be in this loony place all alone. He’d have been worried about that as well. He just wouldn’t have blubbered about it.

“I suppose I’d have been upset for a couple minutes if it had been her cooking in the box. I reckon that excuses her reaction.”

Nate laughed again and cleared his throat. “I think maybe you like Erin more than you realize, Mr. MacNamara.”

Angus snorted. “Me like Erin O’Shea? Has hell frozen over yet? Because that’s what's going to happen the day I admit to liking that woman.”

Nate didn’t answer, just smiled as he stepped outside the room.

* * *

“I am Toorg.”

The boy was agitated when he came to collect her. For once he ignored all the women, including Prudence. He gently tugged her up from her seat and motioned for her to go with him.

Erin nodded as she just as gently pulled her arm from his grasp. “Okay, Toorg. Okay. I’m ready to go with ya now.”

They walked down the hall rapidly and he directed her back to medical. Only this time he entered and guided her to a room where she could see an anxious Angus now pacing inside. She looked up at Toorg. He motioned to the door with his head. Drawing in a breath, she pushed it open and walked in like she had a right to do so.

Angus turned at her entry. He looked even larger than usual in the ugly medical clothes. With a month’s growth of beard and hair that needed trimming, Angus looked like a big old bear.

“Where the feck have ya been?” Angus demanded. “They wouldn’t let me out of here until ya came to collect me.”

Erin walked to a chair, sat, and put her face in her hands. She started to cry. Partly because Angus was fine and she was relieved he still lived. The rest was because she was stuck in a land of fecking strangers with the most contrary human being she’d ever known.

Angus started toward her, but got stopped by Erin’s tall, blond guard. “Move, boy,” he ordered.

“I am Toorrrgggg,” Toorg growled, hand firmly pushing back on his chest.

Erin sniffled and rose. She put a restraining hand on Toorg’s arm. “It’s okay, Toorg. Don’t hurt the bastard. Angus is always a fecking arse to me. I didn’t expect anything less.”

Angus barely held steady when Toorg leaned down to him and narrowed his gaze. He thought he felt a beam of something enter through one of his eyes. The man made a throaty growl sound and in it was a warning.

Angus nodded as he held the boy’s gaze. “Okay, lad. Yer meaning is clear enough. I’m sorry I made her cry.”

After hearing the apology, the guard eased away and turned to look at Erin who was wiping her eyes.

Erin sniffled as she wiped her eyes with her hand. “It wasn’t ya that made me cry, Angus. I’m actually glad to see ya made it after all. It’s the stress of this place that makes me want to curl up in a ball and bawl my eyes out every moment, but I don’t because that won’t change anything. We’re stuck here in this oblivion between life and the great ever after.”

Angus shook his head. “What in bloody hell are ya going on about?”

“Nothing you’d understand yet.” Erin looked around. “Did Nate say ya could leave?”

“He said I could when ya came to get me. Since when are ya the boss of me, Erin O’Shea?”

Erin nodded, too emotionally tired to take offense at Angus’s unfair chastisement.

“I’ll show ya our quarters and have some dinner brought to us. We’re fecking celebrities here with all kinds of help at our beck and call. Once you have some food, it might improve yer disposition enough to listen to me. Ya won’t believe half of what I got to tell ya, but ya need to listen so ya won’t be caught unaware.”

“How long was I in that glass box they cooked me in until I was skinny?” Angus demanded.

“Just over a month,” Erin replied.

“I don’t like it here. I’d like to take a walk and get the lay of this place before I settle in anywhere.”

Erin shook her head. “Toorg and Berg—our guards—won’t let ya wander around just yet. I wouldn’t challenge them in yer weakened condition if I were ya, they have those same devices Agent Black used on us. Nate explained how it worked to me, but I still don’t really get the idea. I just know the device works on aliens too. Apparently, we’re to find that reassuring. Since the aliens are perfectly nice to me, I don’t understand that either.”

Angus huffed. “Ya seem awfully cozy with old Nate.”

Erin lifted her chin. “The man’s been kind and helpful. Without him, I’d have gone insane by now. Are ya ready to leave or not? Medical places always give me the willies.”

Angus frowned. If he didn’t get hold of his temper, Erin would soon stop being kind. He’d pushed her past that point before. “I heard about yer missing beau dying in some military field hospital.”

Erin huffed as she moved to the door. “He wasn’t missing. I knew exactly where he was. I just gave up on that fecking jack the moment he told me he was leaving. I hate medical places because I lost a baby in one once. I can only think of loss in places like this.”

“Ya lost a babe? When was that? I don’t remember it,” Angus declared.

“Of course ya don’t,” Erin said snidely. “Mary and ya were cranking out yer own still. Why would ya know about my losses? The father didn’t even know I was carrying his babe. Instead of staying to see what became of us, he left me to fight in his precious army for causes he couldn’t explain to either of us. He died for his fecking army too. Not all of us find happily ever after like you, Angus. Not even real matchmakers.”

The guard glared at him when Erin walked ahead, her neck bowed with the weight of memories she probably didn’t allow herself often. He now felt like a right bastard for bringing all that up, especially when he had no idea what she’d endured while he’d been in the box. He glared at it as they left and then cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry for upsetting ya, Erin. I’m cranky from what I went through and mad that I let them take us from our home. I don’t like feeling this helpless, but that’s no reason to be mean to ya.”

Angus glanced at the man walking beside him. Toorg, the guard, nodded once, obviously approving of his tone. He had no idea if the man understood his words or not.

Erin nodded, but kept her gaze focused on where they were going. She well knew the way by now and didn’t need Toorg to guide her.

“I don’t like feeling helpless either, but you’re going to encounter a lot of that here. Director John, one of those in charge, told Nate to tell us he’d explain the situation to us both when yer healing was done. One thing is certain though, whatever they have to say, they won’t be discussing us going back. Nate said our journey here was a one way trip. He said we were needed here more than back home. He quit talking to me about the subject when I accused them all of playing God with us. For a pagan, I guess it was a cheap shot, but I was ripe to get back at them for making me feel like this.”

Angus touched the back of her arm to slow her walk. Erin turned to look at him, but in her face was defeat and she did not wear it well. “I’m awake now, Erin. We’ll deal with the reality of whatever it is they say.”

Erin rolled her eyes before she glared. “What the feck do ya think I’ve been doing since I woke up here without ya, Angus? Not all of us got to sip from the fountain of youth for a month. Some of us had to get by the same way we always do. For yer information, I’ve made my own fecking way here.”

Pulling her arm from his, the woman who never failed to churn him up, walked away from him mumbling Gaelic curses under her breath. Probably some pagan shit too. Angus frowned at her back.

“I am Toorg,” the man beside him said sadly.

Angus nodded. “Pleasure to meet ya, Toorg. I guess I’m a horse’s arse, but ya can just call me Angus.”