Time After Time - 1998 - 2000: The People We Become - Part 7
Title: Time After Time
Pairing: Numerous A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick characters (central) with other pairings along the way
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the several dozen franchises and characters that I’ll be using throughout this story.
Summary: A love story spanning two decades and told through multiple parallel universes, and seen through the eyes of Rachel McAdams.
A/N: Well it looks like my love for Andrea Joy Cook and Katheryn Winnick has finally hit its peak, and this is the result.
A/N 2: Due to the fact this is a crossover, I’m going to have to alter some timelines and locations in order to make this work.
Story Arc Summary:
Title: 1998 - 2000: The People We Become
Fandom: Mean Girls/Student Bodies and Higher Ground
Pairing: Holly Benson/Shelby Merrick
Rating: G
Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School, located across the border in the Ontario wilderness.
A/N: For this story, let’s assume the events of Mean Girls, Higher Ground and season 2 of Student Bodies all took place around 1998 despite being released later. Also since Higher Ground was obviously filmed in British Columbia, we’re going to have to pretend Ontario has rocky mountains because Higher Ground without mountains wouldn’t even be called Higher Ground. I’m also pretty certain Mean Girls took place in the 11th grade, but let’s pretend it was the 10th.
A/N2: Both of these Canadian series carries a lot of sentimental value to me, and both ended unresolved. So now I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders because I feel obliged to give both of these series a proper ending. Hope I do them justice. Just for anyone who’s unfamiliar with these two shows, Katheryn Winnick is Holly Benson and A.J. Cook is Shelby Merrick. Anyone curious to check out the series, both are up on Youtube. Here are the channels for Higher Ground and Student Bodies. Katheryn is in episodes 2.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.54 and 3.59 while A.J. is in the entire series of Higher Ground. If I had to recommend one, then by all means watch Higher Ground.
A/N3: Special thanks to Queen of Shadows over at fanfiction.net for being an awesome beta.
Part 7
In Montreal, over in the Miller residence, Mr. Miller excitingly joins his son in the living room. “Cody, I can’t tell you how great this is.”
“I know, I know, it’s really great,” Cody remarks as he holds up a box of items in his arms. “Dad, you’re okay with my friends coming by to work, right?”
“Why, Cody, this is your home now,” he responds. “Your friends are my friends, right?”
“Uh, right, I guess,” Cody answers, not quite certain.
“Just me and you, the Miller boys,” Mr. Miller says enthusiastically. “One great time.” He gives his son a friendly punch in the arm before he walks off laughing with a smile on his face.
“Yeah, the Miller boys... great. That was weird,” Cody realizes.
*****
Mags and Grace are enjoying relaxing on the couch, sipping up some drinks with their feet up on the living room table. They see Mr. Miller walking into the room and the girls quickly take their feet off the antique table. “Sorry Mr. Miller,” Grace apologizes.
“No, no, it’s okay girls, leave them up,” he insists. “I mean to me, antique is an overpriced way of saying really old.” He bends down to gather the empty drink cans on the table. “Hey, wait till you try my guacamole. You’ll flip.”
“So, Mr. Miller, you must be pretty psyched about having Cody move in,” Mags addresses.
“Are you kidding, Mags? It’s fantastic. Just me and him, and all the time in the world to try not to... mess things up.”
“Well if it helps, my parents mess things up all the time, and I’m still fine,” she tries to assure him.
“It’s great to see you, Mags,” he raises up one of the drink cans.
“Anytime, Mr. M.” Mags takes her own drink can and bumps them together.
“Thanks.” Mr. Miller leaves for the kitchen. Mags puts her feet back on table and relaxes.
*****
In the Ontario wilderness, Scott climbs down a small rocky cliff side with a harness that was set up for the contestants. He detaches himself and continues down the steep path. He pulls out his map and compass to see if he’s on the right track.
*****
Emily Roberts and Flash have just entered the Miller residence a short while ago. Emily is surprised to find that neither Mags or Grace have started on their assignment yet. “Wait a second, this is our assignment. Where are the guys?” Emily wonders.
“In Cody’s room,” Mags answers. “He’s got all of his stuff up there now. You should see it.”
“That’s okay.”
“Oooh, you’re not ready yet, are you?” Grace remarks.
“For what?”
“For the ex boyfriend bedroom,” Grace says and tries to make it sound creepy.
Flash overhears and decides to join in. “That den of forbidden passion. Ripe with all the sensual memories of a time that once was, and shall never be again.”
Mags walks over to the other girls. “He’s got his own bathroom,” she says abruptly.
“Look, I don’t need to see Cody’s new bedroom, okay?” Emily tries to defend herself. “If you guys can just go up there and get them so maybe we can get something accomplished today.”
“I’m on it, boss,” Flash lets her know. She puts her face next to Grace’s ear and whispers, “She’s not ready.”
*****
The other four Cliffhangers, sweaty, dirty and tired, trek through the forest to an area where an open road meets a possible trail. “I don’t see him anymore,” Auggie comments on Scott. “Which way, E.Z.?”
Ezra has the compass lying on top of the map, trying to see both of them at the same time to make sense of it all. He lets out a sigh. “I don’t know.”
Juliet grabs the equipment. “Let me see that.”
Shelby looks at how her team-mates are trying to navigate the area. “Just decide so we can get out of this nightmare.”
Ezra leans in and tries to understand it all again. He points to the side. “Southeast, pass the gully, around the ridge... I think.”
“I think?” Auggie remarks. “Come on.”
“You’re more than welcome to try,” Juliet adds.
Auggie takes the map and compass. He quickly gives up and drops the equipment on the ground. “Stupid map.” He looks around the area and points towards a direction. “Come on, it’s this way. Move your humps.”
Juliet picks the equipment from the ground as Auggie dashes. Shelby gets off the tree stump she’s sitting on and follows the rest of them.
Auggie dashes across the terrain. He stops to scan the area, but, foolishly, isn’t paying attention to the ground underneath him. With one wrong step, he accidentally stumbles off a small ledge, and starts rolling down towards the open road.
“Auggie,” the other Cliffhangers call out, concerned.
They move around to a smaller point on the ledge and jump down to where Auggie landed. Juliet goes to check on him. “You okay?”
“Get off me, get off me, get off me,” Auggie insists.
“Is it broken?” asks Shelby. “Did you hear like a wet snap?”
“Yuck,” Juliet comments on the thought of that image.
“It’s not broken, I just twisted it,” the injured team-mate answers.
“Do you think you can get up?” wonders Juliet.
“Come on.” Shelby places one of Auggie’s arms on her shoulders and tries to help her fallen comrade get back on his feet. “Ready?”
Just as they’re about to help Auggie back on his feet, Auggie realizes his ankle isn’t going to be able to handle the weight. “Argh, no, no, no, no.”
“Juliet, do you have that rescue radio?” Shelby asks.
“Yeah,” the brunette unzips the small emergency bag. She hands Shelby, who’s attending to Auggie’s injury, a roll of bandages. “Here.” Juliet speaks into the radio, “Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?” She repeats herself again, “Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?”
*****
Scott reaches the area in the forest where the second checkpoint is. The Toronto team Shelby was flirting with earlier in the day is there.
One of the members notices Scott and calls out to him, “Yo, dude, Horizon, heard a radio call. You got somebody hurt back there. You better turn around.” Scott looks back at the path he just went through. “Bad luck Kemo Sabe,” he finishes. The team finishes their drinks and continues on. Scott grabs a drink from the table and decides to follow the other team.
*****
Cody walks down to his living room where all his colleagues are waiting. “Okay, now that we’re all here.” Emily hands Flash a stash of papers. “Why don’t we get started with these agendas that Flash is handing out?”
“Agendas?” asks Mags.
“Ah, man.” Romeo frowns as he receives the papers.
Mr. Miller confronts Emily. “Emily, can I make a small suggestion?”
“Sure, Mr. Miller,” Emily answers uncomfortably.
“Oh, come on, call me Frank. Oh look everybody, okay?” Mr. Miller insists.
The others agree to his request. Cody on the other hand is not too thrilled and feels like letting “Frank” know he’s crazy.
“Okay, sure... Frank,” Emily agrees.
“Well you’re up against a pretty big monster,” Frank continues. “Awaken that big creative giant.”
“You go, Frank,” Chris compliments from the couch.
“I say you only need a little mindset adjustment I like to call...” Franks walks over to his stereo set and pushes a button on the CD player. “Salsa.” The music gets the students off the couch and they start dancing. “See, isn’t this great?” Frank calls out to his son.
Emily gives Cody a disappointed look. Cody simply holds up his hands and starts to back away slowly. Cody heads back up to his room. He picks up his phone and takes a seat on his bed. A number is dialled. He gets an answering machine he made himself. “Hi, this is the Millers, we’re not here. So do what you have to do.”
Cody begins after hearing the beep, “Yeah, hi mom, it’s me. Ah... I think I might have made a mistake. Call me back, okay?” He places the phone away.
*****
On the shores of the X-Challenge Race, one of the time keepers approaches Peter, Hannah and Katherine, “You’re Horizon?”
“Yes?” Peter confirms.
“Somebody’s hurt. It’s not serious. We’re going to send a jeep around the mountain.”
“Stay here, stay with the radio,” Hannah instructs Peter as she goes to help find the lost Horizon team.
Over at the start/finish line, the sky begins to take a purple tint in the horizon as the sun can be seen starting to set and its orange light shines on the lake and behind the mountains. People cheer as another team are about to cross the finish line. It’s the Toronto team with Scott running along the pack.
Katherine runs up to Scott. “Where is everyone? Who got hurt?” Scott doesn’t say anything. “He just left them,” Katherine tells Peter as he approaches.
“You did what?” Peter asks, shocked by the news.
“I finished,” Scott says in a tired voice. “I did it.”
“Yeah, you did it, you did it all by yourself,” Peter says and begins to give Scott some attitude. “You’re a big football player, huh?”
“Had 17 touchdowns my junior year,” he responds.
“Yeah, but you didn’t learn anything, did you? You just give up.”
“Open your eyes,” Scott fires back. “I’m here. I finished. I didn’t just give up.”
“You are team captain!” Peter raises his voice at the athlete.
“This is your school. You run the place, not me. Those losers back there aren’t my fault. You want to blame someone? Blame yourself.”
Peter points his finger at Scott. “Hey, didn’t you ever lose a game, Scott? Didn’t you ever drop a pass, huh? Most of them, they’ve never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is drop-pass, and you just threw them another one. I was in lots of teams, and just like you, I messed up and I got thrown off. But you know, I still remember how good it feels to be part of something. I still remember that, Scott. It’s a good feeling, even when you lose, and you got a chance to share that with them today, you had a chance to help them feel that, but no! Just once in your life, Scott. And where’s your team now?” Peter points his arm towards the other teams, all together as one. He decides to give up and walk away from the troubled athlete.
The memory of Scott’s football career begins to flash in his head. It’s night and rainy. The game’s over and Scott’s in the locker room. He tosses his helmet away and wallows in defeat. His team-mates are walking by him, patting Scott on the back and telling him not to worry about not winning. Scott ends the memory and looks at the teams around him. He thinks about being in the locker room again. This time it’s the four team-mates he abandoned that are the ones to give him a comforting pat on the back, and they stand there beside him. Peter’s words hits Scott hard.
“Most of them, they’ve never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is a drop-pass, and you just threw them another one.”
for previous chapters:
the master list
Pairing: Numerous A.J. Cook and Katheryn Winnick characters (central) with other pairings along the way
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the several dozen franchises and characters that I’ll be using throughout this story.
Summary: A love story spanning two decades and told through multiple parallel universes, and seen through the eyes of Rachel McAdams.
A/N: Well it looks like my love for Andrea Joy Cook and Katheryn Winnick has finally hit its peak, and this is the result.
A/N 2: Due to the fact this is a crossover, I’m going to have to alter some timelines and locations in order to make this work.
Story Arc Summary:
Title: 1998 - 2000: The People We Become
Fandom: Mean Girls/Student Bodies and Higher Ground
Pairing: Holly Benson/Shelby Merrick
Rating: G
Summary: Regina George moves out of Illinois and starts a new life in Canada. As she experiences her final high school years, Regina sees life both from the perspective of the quirkiness of Edison High to the troubled Mt. Horizon High School, located across the border in the Ontario wilderness.
A/N: For this story, let’s assume the events of Mean Girls, Higher Ground and season 2 of Student Bodies all took place around 1998 despite being released later. Also since Higher Ground was obviously filmed in British Columbia, we’re going to have to pretend Ontario has rocky mountains because Higher Ground without mountains wouldn’t even be called Higher Ground. I’m also pretty certain Mean Girls took place in the 11th grade, but let’s pretend it was the 10th.
A/N2: Both of these Canadian series carries a lot of sentimental value to me, and both ended unresolved. So now I feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders because I feel obliged to give both of these series a proper ending. Hope I do them justice. Just for anyone who’s unfamiliar with these two shows, Katheryn Winnick is Holly Benson and A.J. Cook is Shelby Merrick. Anyone curious to check out the series, both are up on Youtube. Here are the channels for Higher Ground and Student Bodies. Katheryn is in episodes 2.49, 3.51, 3.53, 3.54 and 3.59 while A.J. is in the entire series of Higher Ground. If I had to recommend one, then by all means watch Higher Ground.
A/N3: Special thanks to Queen of Shadows over at fanfiction.net for being an awesome beta.
Part 7
In Montreal, over in the Miller residence, Mr. Miller excitingly joins his son in the living room. “Cody, I can’t tell you how great this is.”
“I know, I know, it’s really great,” Cody remarks as he holds up a box of items in his arms. “Dad, you’re okay with my friends coming by to work, right?”
“Why, Cody, this is your home now,” he responds. “Your friends are my friends, right?”
“Uh, right, I guess,” Cody answers, not quite certain.
“Just me and you, the Miller boys,” Mr. Miller says enthusiastically. “One great time.” He gives his son a friendly punch in the arm before he walks off laughing with a smile on his face.
“Yeah, the Miller boys... great. That was weird,” Cody realizes.
*****
Mags and Grace are enjoying relaxing on the couch, sipping up some drinks with their feet up on the living room table. They see Mr. Miller walking into the room and the girls quickly take their feet off the antique table. “Sorry Mr. Miller,” Grace apologizes.
“No, no, it’s okay girls, leave them up,” he insists. “I mean to me, antique is an overpriced way of saying really old.” He bends down to gather the empty drink cans on the table. “Hey, wait till you try my guacamole. You’ll flip.”
“So, Mr. Miller, you must be pretty psyched about having Cody move in,” Mags addresses.
“Are you kidding, Mags? It’s fantastic. Just me and him, and all the time in the world to try not to... mess things up.”
“Well if it helps, my parents mess things up all the time, and I’m still fine,” she tries to assure him.
“It’s great to see you, Mags,” he raises up one of the drink cans.
“Anytime, Mr. M.” Mags takes her own drink can and bumps them together.
“Thanks.” Mr. Miller leaves for the kitchen. Mags puts her feet back on table and relaxes.
*****
In the Ontario wilderness, Scott climbs down a small rocky cliff side with a harness that was set up for the contestants. He detaches himself and continues down the steep path. He pulls out his map and compass to see if he’s on the right track.
*****
Emily Roberts and Flash have just entered the Miller residence a short while ago. Emily is surprised to find that neither Mags or Grace have started on their assignment yet. “Wait a second, this is our assignment. Where are the guys?” Emily wonders.
“In Cody’s room,” Mags answers. “He’s got all of his stuff up there now. You should see it.”
“That’s okay.”
“Oooh, you’re not ready yet, are you?” Grace remarks.
“For what?”
“For the ex boyfriend bedroom,” Grace says and tries to make it sound creepy.
Flash overhears and decides to join in. “That den of forbidden passion. Ripe with all the sensual memories of a time that once was, and shall never be again.”
Mags walks over to the other girls. “He’s got his own bathroom,” she says abruptly.
“Look, I don’t need to see Cody’s new bedroom, okay?” Emily tries to defend herself. “If you guys can just go up there and get them so maybe we can get something accomplished today.”
“I’m on it, boss,” Flash lets her know. She puts her face next to Grace’s ear and whispers, “She’s not ready.”
*****
The other four Cliffhangers, sweaty, dirty and tired, trek through the forest to an area where an open road meets a possible trail. “I don’t see him anymore,” Auggie comments on Scott. “Which way, E.Z.?”
Ezra has the compass lying on top of the map, trying to see both of them at the same time to make sense of it all. He lets out a sigh. “I don’t know.”
Juliet grabs the equipment. “Let me see that.”
Shelby looks at how her team-mates are trying to navigate the area. “Just decide so we can get out of this nightmare.”
Ezra leans in and tries to understand it all again. He points to the side. “Southeast, pass the gully, around the ridge... I think.”
“I think?” Auggie remarks. “Come on.”
“You’re more than welcome to try,” Juliet adds.
Auggie takes the map and compass. He quickly gives up and drops the equipment on the ground. “Stupid map.” He looks around the area and points towards a direction. “Come on, it’s this way. Move your humps.”
Juliet picks the equipment from the ground as Auggie dashes. Shelby gets off the tree stump she’s sitting on and follows the rest of them.
Auggie dashes across the terrain. He stops to scan the area, but, foolishly, isn’t paying attention to the ground underneath him. With one wrong step, he accidentally stumbles off a small ledge, and starts rolling down towards the open road.
“Auggie,” the other Cliffhangers call out, concerned.
They move around to a smaller point on the ledge and jump down to where Auggie landed. Juliet goes to check on him. “You okay?”
“Get off me, get off me, get off me,” Auggie insists.
“Is it broken?” asks Shelby. “Did you hear like a wet snap?”
“Yuck,” Juliet comments on the thought of that image.
“It’s not broken, I just twisted it,” the injured team-mate answers.
“Do you think you can get up?” wonders Juliet.
“Come on.” Shelby places one of Auggie’s arms on her shoulders and tries to help her fallen comrade get back on his feet. “Ready?”
Just as they’re about to help Auggie back on his feet, Auggie realizes his ankle isn’t going to be able to handle the weight. “Argh, no, no, no, no.”
“Juliet, do you have that rescue radio?” Shelby asks.
“Yeah,” the brunette unzips the small emergency bag. She hands Shelby, who’s attending to Auggie’s injury, a roll of bandages. “Here.” Juliet speaks into the radio, “Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?” She repeats herself again, “Hello, this is team Horizon. Can anybody hear me?”
*****
Scott reaches the area in the forest where the second checkpoint is. The Toronto team Shelby was flirting with earlier in the day is there.
One of the members notices Scott and calls out to him, “Yo, dude, Horizon, heard a radio call. You got somebody hurt back there. You better turn around.” Scott looks back at the path he just went through. “Bad luck Kemo Sabe,” he finishes. The team finishes their drinks and continues on. Scott grabs a drink from the table and decides to follow the other team.
*****
Cody walks down to his living room where all his colleagues are waiting. “Okay, now that we’re all here.” Emily hands Flash a stash of papers. “Why don’t we get started with these agendas that Flash is handing out?”
“Agendas?” asks Mags.
“Ah, man.” Romeo frowns as he receives the papers.
Mr. Miller confronts Emily. “Emily, can I make a small suggestion?”
“Sure, Mr. Miller,” Emily answers uncomfortably.
“Oh, come on, call me Frank. Oh look everybody, okay?” Mr. Miller insists.
The others agree to his request. Cody on the other hand is not too thrilled and feels like letting “Frank” know he’s crazy.
“Okay, sure... Frank,” Emily agrees.
“Well you’re up against a pretty big monster,” Frank continues. “Awaken that big creative giant.”
“You go, Frank,” Chris compliments from the couch.
“I say you only need a little mindset adjustment I like to call...” Franks walks over to his stereo set and pushes a button on the CD player. “Salsa.” The music gets the students off the couch and they start dancing. “See, isn’t this great?” Frank calls out to his son.
Emily gives Cody a disappointed look. Cody simply holds up his hands and starts to back away slowly. Cody heads back up to his room. He picks up his phone and takes a seat on his bed. A number is dialled. He gets an answering machine he made himself. “Hi, this is the Millers, we’re not here. So do what you have to do.”
Cody begins after hearing the beep, “Yeah, hi mom, it’s me. Ah... I think I might have made a mistake. Call me back, okay?” He places the phone away.
*****
On the shores of the X-Challenge Race, one of the time keepers approaches Peter, Hannah and Katherine, “You’re Horizon?”
“Yes?” Peter confirms.
“Somebody’s hurt. It’s not serious. We’re going to send a jeep around the mountain.”
“Stay here, stay with the radio,” Hannah instructs Peter as she goes to help find the lost Horizon team.
Over at the start/finish line, the sky begins to take a purple tint in the horizon as the sun can be seen starting to set and its orange light shines on the lake and behind the mountains. People cheer as another team are about to cross the finish line. It’s the Toronto team with Scott running along the pack.
Katherine runs up to Scott. “Where is everyone? Who got hurt?” Scott doesn’t say anything. “He just left them,” Katherine tells Peter as he approaches.
“You did what?” Peter asks, shocked by the news.
“I finished,” Scott says in a tired voice. “I did it.”
“Yeah, you did it, you did it all by yourself,” Peter says and begins to give Scott some attitude. “You’re a big football player, huh?”
“Had 17 touchdowns my junior year,” he responds.
“Yeah, but you didn’t learn anything, did you? You just give up.”
“Open your eyes,” Scott fires back. “I’m here. I finished. I didn’t just give up.”
“You are team captain!” Peter raises his voice at the athlete.
“This is your school. You run the place, not me. Those losers back there aren’t my fault. You want to blame someone? Blame yourself.”
Peter points his finger at Scott. “Hey, didn’t you ever lose a game, Scott? Didn’t you ever drop a pass, huh? Most of them, they’ve never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is drop-pass, and you just threw them another one. I was in lots of teams, and just like you, I messed up and I got thrown off. But you know, I still remember how good it feels to be part of something. I still remember that, Scott. It’s a good feeling, even when you lose, and you got a chance to share that with them today, you had a chance to help them feel that, but no! Just once in your life, Scott. And where’s your team now?” Peter points his arm towards the other teams, all together as one. He decides to give up and walk away from the troubled athlete.
The memory of Scott’s football career begins to flash in his head. It’s night and rainy. The game’s over and Scott’s in the locker room. He tosses his helmet away and wallows in defeat. His team-mates are walking by him, patting Scott on the back and telling him not to worry about not winning. Scott ends the memory and looks at the teams around him. He thinks about being in the locker room again. This time it’s the four team-mates he abandoned that are the ones to give him a comforting pat on the back, and they stand there beside him. Peter’s words hits Scott hard.
“Most of them, they’ve never won anything in their lives. Their whole life is a drop-pass, and you just threw them another one.”
for previous chapters:
the master list