Title: "Blast from the Past"
Rating: high T
Genre: Family, Friendship
Character(s): Adam and Leo, mainly, but an OC and the family are here, too
Pairing(s): there's a huge variety included and hinted at in here, so just stay tuned ;)
Summary: Although with no chance of getting back to the present, Adam travels back to the past to prevent a major shift in the flow of time from happening. In the course of his journey, he learns how it is to be a good friend and a good brother again. Three-shot. Sequel to Present: Tense.
Notes: I know, I know. The way Present: Tense ended was pretty cruel. That's why it took long for the update to come. I had to make sure this was written so the gap between the two won't be too wide. :D Short note if you're just joining in for the first time: unlike the others, this one cannot stand by itself. Please do consider reading the story (or stories, if you'd like!) that came before this before diving in so everything will be clearer. The prequel to this is not awfully long, don't worry!
Just want to quickly thank everyone who had been supportive of this mini trilogy. EmeraldTulip, Ghostgirl37, and AlienGhostWizard14, especially, because you guys are absolute rock stars. Thank you for being so kind!
By the way, just a head's up: I heightened the rating because there's a theme hinted in here (in this chapter, actually) that's gonna be uncomfortable. It's not stated explicitly, but you will know what it is when you see it. It's a terrible dose of reality, something that happens in our world today, unfortunately, but I included it because it's a reminder to us all. I tried my best to handle it with good care.
Okay, now with that done, let's get into it. This one's gonna be pretty long. Please enjoy the final story to the series!
I.
November 9, 2004 was not – is not – what Adam expected it to be. Quite honestly, he's not quite sure what he expected. He guesses he had thought that twelve years ago, things would look very old and obviously outdated, but this? This doesn't. The wide open park that surrounds him looks beautifully timeless. It's deserted, but the trees, practically auburn and several almost bare, appear inviting. He can't help but gape in awe at the gorgeous autumn skies above, clouds of white tinted by the setting orange sun, each spectacle swimming in a pool of bright blue. Everything looks like home that for his first few minutes there in the past, he's fooled into thinking that he has just been transported to a different place but not a different time.
Then again, technically, this is still home. He has set the location in a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, right where his stepmother had told him ages ago that she and his stepbrother used to live on. He doesn't know if the coordinates had been right. At this point, he can only hope.
What shakes him from the fantasy of him having remained in the timeline he has left is the information imprinted on the screen built into the back-up test suit's helmet. 11.09.04, it confirms, with the time 3:46 PM underneath it.
He tries not to be discouraged as he looks at the date. He has no chance of getting back to the future, to twelve years where everything he's known and has come to love exists. It breaks his heart, the thought that even if he does succeed this mission, he will need to learn to start from scratch. He has to find a new family (or people to call 'family') and new friends. He's not very familiar with the mechanics of timeline, and he doesn't want to be bothered by it, but he does know that he can't go back to the mansion, where his father, his ten year old self, and his younger siblings reside at this moment. Doing that can cause another disturbance in the fabric of the ever delicate timeline, and that would just defeat the purpose of his sacrifice.
Still, he already misses them. His father, his stepmother, his uncle. Even if he's still upset with them for leaving and not caring to look back, he misses his little sister and little brother, too.
He misses his youngest brother – his friend – also but not as much, because he knows that he will see him today.
He has to see him today and do what he can to make sure he exists into the future.
He twists the helmet loose then pulls it off after being reminded of his reason to be here. The cold air hits him quickly, and it seeps into his clothes after he peels off one of the straps holding the test suit in place, but the snug, bulky, off-white material does its job of keeping him warm and comfortable despite the low temperature. He looks around and sees emptiness. He hears relative silence, because there is the occasional and distant whooshing of cars quickly gliding down the street echoing from somewhere.
An old, blue Ford pick-up truck rolls by on the street ahead of him, its engines grumbling in annoyance as it passes. So far, that's the only moving thing he's seen.
Guess Tasha left out the part of this neighborhood being boring, he thinks before walking ahead. He looks up and down the street to look for people and, to be honest, to see if he'll spot his stepbrother, but all he finds is a mother chatting with her two children, both pre-school ages, both animated in their story, walking up the street three blocks away. That gives him some hope, because that means that a drop-off point for children riding the school bus is somewhere nearby. There's some chance that he will come across his stepbrother.
Then again, there's that problem of him not knowing whether he's in the right neighborhood.
So, he heads northwest to see if he can find another person he can ask information from. He doesn't have time to burn. It will obviously be dark soon, which means danger for his younger stepbrother. Plus, whatever it is that prevented his brother from existing into the future can happen at any moment. He can't let that happen. He has to beat the clock. If he locates where his stepmother lives right now, he can use that as a starting point, and he can backtrack. Leo did say he was dropped off three stops too early, which probably means he's still going to be around the same vicinity.
Right?
My brain hurts, Adam complains inwardly.
However, the confusion is wiped away when he runs into a woman at the intersection of the block. She stares at him with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment. She cocks her eyebrows when she sees his outfit, her grasp on her child tightening gradually, defensively, the more she gets a good look at him. Her brows furrow. "Excuse me," she says as she walks on ahead.
"Hey, ma'am, please?" Adam calls to her before she can cross the street. "Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't have any money," she says loudly, hurrying ahead with her daughter and not looking back.
"No, I was just going to ask for direction?" Adam says persistently, fighting the urge to follow her. "I'm lost."
The woman keeps going.
"Please? I just want to know where my…friend lives."
The woman doesn't stop, but there's hesitation in her pace. However, she's almost at the end of the block ahead.
"I just – If you… Do you know Tasha Dooley?"
The woman pauses. After crossing the street, she nearly runs, forcing her daughter to run along with her.
Adam sighs. This asking thing is not working as well as he thought.
He turns to the left next, going to where the mother and daughter had come from, thinking that he may come across a drop-off point somewhere that direction.
After the reaction he has just received, he decides that maybe it's not such a bad thing that there's no one around. Personally, he wouldn't have minded seeing a guy on a space suit/time travel suit walking around the neighborhood. That would actually be cool. But his siblings, especially Chase, had told him before that the things he considers normal and amusing are not normal and amusing for most normal people.
With that reasoning, he can see why those 'most normal people' miss out on some of the most fun things.
Well, occasional fun things, because nowadays – back in 2016, actually – things that look fun are usually the most dangerous. He may not be superiorly intelligent, but he's come to the point that his sense of discernment is sharper than what it used to be, and that gives him an understanding of that fact.
Maybe things aren't as good out here in the past either, and that's why people are cautious. If that's the case, then he probably shouldn't take offense if people run away from him again. He just wishes that at least one person will give him the answer he needs.
He also wishes no one will call the police on him. That's important. He doesn't want to spend his first years here in the past being in jail. He also prefers the friends he will make to not be convicted felons.
The low, irritated grumblings of the same blue Ford pick-up interrupts his thoughts as it rounds the corner. Looking up from the ground, he watches as it drives forward, lingers at a stop sign, pulls ahead then turns right on the next block. Adam sighs as the vehicle vanishes from sight. He misses his new car. If he had it, searching would have been way easier.
He trudges on ahead and is about to cross the street when the unmistakable sound of a child crying strikes his ears. His head snaps up. He looks ahead, behind, to the left, to the right—and he finds him. A small boy searches around hopelessly, crying out of sheer terror due to the environment he's not familiar with. His little shoes continue forward although its wanderer is lost. His Toy Story backpack bobs lightly with each step. He's dressed well enough for the weather, but from the subtle way he shivers, it's telling that he's cold.
Leo, Adam thinks as he looks at his then six year-old little brother with pity. He crosses the street to get to him, careful not to run so as not to scare the already terrified child. However, when the blue Ford pick-up truck pulls up at the end of the block, right in front of where the six year-old is heading, he stops.
The window rolls down mechanically, and it reveals a middle aged man, a leer on his lips and a toothpick stuck between his teeth, on the driver's seat. He's decently dressed. He looks okay. Adam just doesn't like the way he's eyeing his stepbrother. There's no concern for the child whatsoever in his stare. Just…greed. And selfishness.
It makes him sick.
"Hey, buddy! What's goin' on? Why're you crying?" the man asks as he grins a friendly, deceptive grin at the child.
The six year-old contains his sobs as he looks at the stranger.
"Where's Mom? Did she forget to pick you up, or…?"
The boy breaks eye contact and wisely doesn't say anything.
"Oh, c'mon. Don't do that. You know who I am," the man chuckles. "I live three blocks away. You know Savannah and Sabrina, right? Don't you go to the same school together? With Ethan? You know I live across from them." After the child backs away, he says with a laugh, "Don't be like that. You're acting like we're strangers! I'm just trying to be nice. I know you want to get home, and your mom's already going crazy looking for you. She's mad, you know. At you. But – I can call her right now. Just hop in. She won't be mad."
"Why don't you just get lost?" Adam says, infuriated and very defensive now.
The question seems to snap a nerve, and the grin on the man's face gradually fades. "Hey, come on, kid. Get in the car. I don't know who that man is behind you," he tells the child.
"Don't," Adam tells the little boy firmly. "Do what Tasha told you."
The little boy's eyes widen slightly with a semblance of recognition, and Adam knows it's because he heard his mother's name. Still, he remains cautious, now both of the other man and of him.
Adam glares at the man on the truck. "If you know him so well, what's his grandmother's name? Huh?" he asks. When he's not given an answer, he says, "That's what I thought. Stop lying to him. Just do all three of us a favor and go away."
The man scoffs. He gets out of the car then walks towards them. As he does, the little boy walks back, and Adam instinctively steps in front, shielding him. "I don't know who you think you are, pretty boy, but you're in the wrong neighborhood," the man says threateningly.
"Believe me, you don't want to do what you're thinking of doing," Adam says.
Defiantly, the man makes a livid step forward, but Adam stops him from advancing further by shooting a laser by his feet.
"That will always be a bad idea," Adam says as the man stares at him, stunned, surprised, and frightened. "Don't let me ever see you around him again."
The man slowly backs away then scuttles hurriedly back to his truck. He pulls the gear shift, and then drives off.
When he's gone, Adam turns around and smiles at his future stepbrother. He sees the shocked and amazed look on his small face, though there's no smile there yet. His tears are drying as he stares at the tall man who has just done what only the characters in his comic books have done. Adam chuckles when he sees the conflict in the boy's eyes. He's wondering whether he should look at him as a friend or a danger. Stooping down to meet his eyes better, he asks, "You okay?"
The boy nods.
However, Adam suspects that he only did because he's scared of him. He chuckles. Then he says, "Look, I know this is bad timing right now. That creepy guy really just ruined the chances of you trusting me, but, I guess you shouldn't anyway. I'm not a bad guy, though. It's just – I have a feeling that your mom told you not to talk to strangers. Am I right?"
Guiltily, the six year-old looks away—a yes.
"Don't worry. I won't be mad if you decide not to talk to me. You do what your mom tells you. You always do, okay? Because doing what she says helps. Like with that guy." He darts a vicious glower down the path that the blue pick-up truck has gone to, his blood once again simmering after remembering the predator that almost hurt his brother.
"Here," he says, opening up one of the test suit pockets, the one located close to his right ankle. He draws out his wallet then pulls out a picture from it to show it to the little boy. It's one of the photos he had taken with his stepmother and his stepbrother at the day of his graduation. He smiles. "See? I have proof that I'm family—Friend, I mean! Family…friend," he fumbles, not wanting to reveal the future so as not to change it. He points to one of the people in it. "Who is this?" he asks.
Though still somewhat cautious, the six year-old looks closer. "Mommy?" he says, his voice tiny.
The smile on Adam's face increases in brightness. "That's right," he says. He points to himself in the picture, dressed in cap and gown, grinning with his arms draped on his stepmother's and stepbrother's shoulders. "Who is this?"
The six year-old frowns at it then looks at him. "You?"
"Right," he commends him. He notices that the little boy seems a little more at ease with him, just a bit, and he sees that as something good. Moving on to the last person, he asks, "What about him? Who is he?"
Adam grins when the little boy's features scrunches up in thought, unknowingly gazing at a picture of himself twelve years from now. It takes the six year-old a moment to process his answer, and when it comes to him he says, "Daddy?"
Adam laughs, but not derisively. He's set on correcting him, or at least letting the boy know that the teenager in the picture is someone that he will know soon, when he notices a shift on the child's face. His searching eyes gradually and steadily lost their inquisitiveness, and soon it's replaced with something heartbreaking. Adam notes sadness and longing. Desperate longing, which becomes emphasized by the way the little boy's lip juts up and big tears pool in his eyes.
Adam begins fearing that he has done something when the date reminds him of something.
November 9, 2004.
Leo has just lost his biological father a few months ago.
The dam of tears breaks, and soon the six year-old is crying openly. "Daddy…" he calls out, his little heart shattered.
"I know, buddy. I know. I'm sorry," Adam says as he places the picture then the wallet back to his pocket. It makes him feel terrible to watch his little brother be so broken. He had seen Bree and Chase cry before when they were younger, but it was usually because of a nightmare or a fight or because someone didn't have something that they wanted. Not like this. Not because they had lost someone they loved, and they knew he's not coming back.
Seeing that emotion through the eyes of a child, through the eyes of the boy who would show so much love for them seven years from now, renders something inside of him into countless shattered pieces.
He attempts to smile encouragingly at him. "This probably won't help much, but what do you say we try to find home? I think you've had a long day today, and it'd be good if you rest up a little. You lead the way, and I'll be behind you to make sure you get back safe. Is that okay?"
The six year-old nods as he wipes the stream of tears flowing down his cheeks. He's having a hard time controlling his sobs because the picture brings so many memories of the father he lost, but he tries his best to get back on his walk home. He crosses the street, with his newly met friend crossing by his side, and then he continues on while the other boy falls back behind to keep a comfortable distance.
As they travel on, Adam keeps aware of their surroundings, looking for people he can approach and ask regarding his stepmother's house. He also pays close attention to his little brother. It concerns him how cold he looks. The little boy is somewhat hunched, no doubt in an attempt to reserve as much heat as possible. Adam wishes there was a jacket he can give him. He doesn't want the six year-old to freeze.
After walking for a few blocks, a purple Chevy slows down as it passes by the street. Alarmed, Adam calls out, "Leo, wait. Can you come back here for a moment?" He doesn't take his eyes away from the car, especially once it stops.
When the driver rolls down the window, Adam feels somewhat of a relief. It's the woman who sped by him earlier, only this time, instead of her daughter, she seems to have a friend with her. She doesn't look any happier, though. In fact, the frown on her face is revealing of her distrust of him. "You still around?" the woman asks, scanning him contemptibly.
Oblivious to it, Adam only grins. "Yes," he says. "I'm still lost."
She doesn't say anything. She only glances at the child now standing beside him. "What you doing with a kid?" she asks.
"Oh, uh, well, he's kind of lost, too. We're just really both going the same way," Adam explains to dispel any suspicion.
The woman hums, but she clearly still disapproves.
"Ma'am, I really need help—"
"I still don't have money."
"No, it's not—" Adam chuckles in frustration, "it's not money that I need. I need to know where Tasha Dooley lives. I have, uh, something of hers that I really need to return."
"Dooley?" the woman repeats.
"Yes."
"You're not talking about Rose's daughter, are you?"
"Yes! Yes, Rose Dooley's daughter. Exactly."
She cocks an eyebrow. "What d'you need with her little girl, hm? What'd you really need to see her for?" she asks.
"I just need to return something safely," Adam says pleadingly.
The woman looks at him unhappily for another uncomfortable moment. Then, she says, "I don't know what you want with her, but I'm not afraid to call the police on you."
Adam sighs, quite exhausted with the conversation that doesn't make sense even to him. "Fine. Go ahead. Call." He looks around and finds a bench at a bus stop ahead. Gesturing to it, he says, "I'll wait there. As long as he gets to come home to his mom, I don't care."
The woman shoots him a glower, though a wavering one, before turning her attention to the six year-old with him. She smiles sweetly. "Hello, honey," she says to him. "Are you Tasha's baby?"
The six year-old hangs his head low, unsure at first how to respond. Then, minutely, he nods.
"Well, where's Mommy? Why aren't you with her?"
The six year-old only shrugs, and for a moment Adam is tempted to smile.
"Is this man bothering you?" the woman asks with another glare at him.
The six year-old shakes his head.
"Well, okay. Let me see if I can get in contact with Grandma for you, okay?" she says. "Actually, why don't you just hop in? Cherise and I can drop you off at her house."
"No, thank you," the little boy says.
"You sure? You're safer with us."
"Yes."
"Okay, honey." When she looks back at Adam, her expression sours again. "I'm telling Rose her grandbaby is right here. He better be here when she gets here. And I'm calling the police," she says threateningly. Then, she drives off, tires lightly skidding.
"Okay," Adam says with a shrug. He doesn't really care about the police anymore, to be honest. He just wants his brother back home, because if he gets back home safely, that means everything will be where they are supposed to be in the future. Turning his attention back to the bench at the bus stop, he goes towards it, his future stepbrother walking alongside him.
After taking their preferred spots, they sit in silence for a long while. Adam doesn't expect the boy to talk to him since he did tell him not to out of obedience to his mother. Meanwhile, the six year-old doesn't really know what to say. He does admire his new friend, though. Unbeknownst to Adam, the child trusts him. At least, enough for him to dig through the contents of his backpack to pull out his favorite storybook then hand it to his new friend.
"Jack and the Beanstalk?" Adam asks with a smile. "Are you letting me borrow this?"
The six year-old nods bashfully but still wordlessly.
"Okay." Then, he reads.
Soon, Adam is too taken away by the illustrations and the side drawings and scribbles that he knows are made by his brother that he neglects to pay as rapt of an attention as he did earlier. It takes him a very long while to finish the storybook. He's grinning once he does, thoroughly amused by his brother's illustrations. He turns to the younger boy to tell him how he liked the drawings, but the sight of the little boy fast asleep while leaning back on the bench stops him short. How long was I looking through this book?, Adam asks himself.
He reaches out to wake him up, but he decides against it. His little brother is evidently tired, and no doubt crying exhausted more of his energy. He needs the nap to regain what he lost.
So, Adam waits patiently and hopes that the woman will come back with Rose soon.
After another considerable stretch of time, he becomes impatient. He slips the helmet back on momentarily to check the time. 5:21 PM. He looks at either side of the street to see if any cars are coming after taking the helmet back off. Did the woman forget to tell Rose about Leo? The temperature is steadily dropping. His little brother needs to get home.
He waits for a few more minutes, but after a quarter of an hour passes with no purple Chevys or even Rose in sight, Adam decides that it may be better to resume the search on their own. "Hey, Leo?" he says gently, lightly tapping his brother's shoulder. "Leo, come on. You need to wake up. We need to go get you back home. We need to find your house by ourselves, okay?"
The six year-old groggily lolls his head as he tries to move but fails.
Adam grins. "Come on, buddy. Wake up."
The six year-old stirs unsuccessfully.
Adam chuckles. "I can't believe you've been a heavy sleeper since childhood, man," he mutters. He taps the child's shoulder again. "Leo… We have to go."
The little boy finally opens his eyes, though they're still obviously very heavy with sleep. However, instead of hopping off the bench, he scoots over to Adam to lean his head on his arm before going back to sleep.
"Seriously?" Adam says. He sighs. He pulls the hoods of the boy's inner and outer jackets over his head so he wouldn't get too cold before attempting to wake him up again. However, the movement seems to have jolted his little brother into the mode of half-consciously raising his arms up. "You want me to carry you?" Adam asks him.
No replies, but his arms continue to stay upward.
Adam sighs. He places the book back into his brother's backpack. Then, he simultaneously picks up the little boy and stands up from his seat. His little brother loops his small arms around his neck and then buries his face at the shoulder of his million dollar back-up test suit. "If I ever get back to the future, you will hear about this," Adam tells him quietly before walking ahead, his helmet on one hand and his younger brother on another.
He walks on ahead, wandering from block to block to find any telling signs of a house being his stepmother's and also to see if he can approach anyone for information. A few cars pass them by through the span of his search, but none of them are slow enough for him to get their attention. So, he continues around the neighborhood as the evening settles into the skies.
After going around a block that he seems to have gone twice already before, he finds a man unloading groceries from the trunk of his van. They seem to have seen each other at the same time, because the man greets him politely, albeit slightly bewildered, "Hey, man. How's it going?"
"Good," Adam says, stopping. He only realizes then how numb and prickly his feet are getting.
"You looking for something?"
"Yeah, um…I was actually looking for Tasha Dooley's house? I've been going around the neighborhood, and – I'm a friend of their family."
"You one of Jason's friends, huh?" the man asks with a sad smile.
"Oh. Well—"
"You're not too far away," the man says. Pointing as he speaks, he says, "Just go up five blocks from here, and then when you reach the stop sign, turn left. Three more blocks. It's a lot of walking, but I think you'll get there in about half an hour."
Adam sighs of relief. Finally! "Thank you so much, sir," he says. "You have no idea how much that helps us."
"Anytime," the man says, shutting the trunk of his van. "The family's kind of in a loss right now, you know? They need as much support as they can, especially since she still has her little boy with her."
Adam smiles sadly. "Yeah," he agrees.
The man nods at them both. "You taking your son over for a playdate with Tasha's boy?" he asks.
Adam frowns. He looks down to see what the man means when he sees Leo. He almost laughs and tells the man his little brother is not his when he realizes the confusion. With the heavy jacket, warm clothing, and the gloves, the only visible part of his brother is his face, and even that is turned away from anyone watching closely. So, as a response, he just smiles at the man.
The man grins. "Well, you got the right idea wearing that astronaut suit. The boy's crazy for science," he says with a chuckle.
"Thanks so much, sir. Have a good night," Adam tells him as he turns to go.
"Yeah, you, too," the man says. Then, "Oh! I didn't get your name, man. What is it?"
"Adam," Adam says without thinking about it.
"Oh, okay. My name's Chris." The man waves goodbye before picking up the bags of groceries sitting on his driveway. "You take care, man."
"You, too. Thanks," Adam says before crossing the street.
True to the man's words, it takes him about half an hour to reach his destination. By that time, darkness has pervaded the city around them, and the weather has only gotten chillier. He checks on his little brother when they reach the last block just to make sure he's okay, and he finds him still deeply asleep.
He slows down and walks cautiously as he looks at the houses because he doesn't want his stepmother or step grandmother to see him. That can change the future, he thinks, so he doesn't want to risk it. He recognizes one of the cars parked in front the corner house ahead. After some thought, it comes to him where he has seen it: Grandma Rose's garage. That must be the house, he thinks.
Quickly, he strides towards it, but instead of approaching the front door, he rounds the corner for the backyard. Leo told him that he was found on the swing there, so that is where he will leave him. When he sees the fenced up space in the back of the house, he receives further affirmation that this is their intended destination through the numerous toys spread out in the back, and at a corner he sees a small red wagon that he remembers his brother saying he used to have before Marcus decimated it. Most importantly, not too far away from the gate, is a backyard swing.
Adam looks around him to see if anyone's watching or coming out from the house before trying out the locks on the fence. To his relief, it lets him in with no problem. Carefully and very quietly, he heads to the swing, and then he disengages his little brother from himself to put him down gently on it. His future stepbrother stirs, but soon he's back to sleep.
Adam smiles. "You're okay now. You're safe," he tells him, his voice barely above a whisper. Remembering one of the reasons he came there for, he takes the bear he has inexplicably managed to stuff at a compartment of the test suit, and then puts it beside him. The six year-old, mistaking the bear as one of his toys, takes it into his small arms and hugs it closely. "Take care of Mr. Short, okay? I will see you soon," Adam tells his brother. Then, as he remembers the things his brother is to go through from this point forward, he tells him sincerely, "I will always be here for you. Always remember that."
He gets up then hurries out of the backyard. He retreats into the garage to hide behind it. Peeking back, he can see movements in the house, but none of them are coming out. So, to help his brother, he looks around him and finds a stray, worn-out tiny plastic wheel by the trash can. He picks it up, and then, with a decreased effort so as not to blast the toy piece into the door, he throws it.
The wheel thumps loudly against the door. Unfortunately, it's not enough to fully get their attention.
So, Adam tries again, only this time, he finds four solid items, still small, but enough to make noise. He throws them consecutively – one, two, three, four – and then, he leans back to where they will not see him.
When he hears the door squeak, he carefully peeks out to see what's happening. A younger Tasha has rushed out of the door once she sees her son on the swing, while Rose, with a very relieved look on her face, watches her daughter and her grandson at the entrance.
"Leo! Baby! Are you okay?" Tasha asks frantically as she pulls her son up into sitting position. She's clearly on the verge of tears. "What happened to you? Huh? You really scared Mommy. What happened to you? Where were you?"
"Mommy?" the six year-old says blearily as he rubs his eyes, not letting go of the bear.
"Yes. Yes, honey, it's Mommy," Tasha smiles encouragingly though tears of fear stream down her face. "You're so cold. Let's go inside, okay? Grandma and Grandpa are inside."
The six year-old languidly hops out of the swing, and then follows his mother into the house as she holds onto his hand. Once the three of them are all in, Rose closes the door behind them.
Adam smiles, happy that the future is now secure. Then, he notices the silence and the unfamiliarity around him and ahead of him, and it extinguishes his happiness.
He's alone now, and this is what life will be like for him for the next twelve years.
With a soft sigh, he turns around then wanders onward. For the first time, he feels a very strong urge to go back to Mission Creek, but he knows he can't. He realizes now that saving his brother is a twelve-year process, and as a part of it, he has to stay away from his family and friends.
Quite honestly, he doesn't know how he can make it out here in the past. He has no money, and he's not too sure he can find work without any credentials. He has left everything that he needs in the future. He has no chance of starting over here, and he has no friends, no family, and no home to come back to. His hands are painfully empty.
He racks his brain for any solutions, but he finds that all he can think about is where he can get food. It's been hours since he's last had breakfast. Not only that, he's also terribly cold. The suit seems to be insufficient now in keeping him warm.
After walking around with no direction in mind, Adam finds himself an hour later standing at the park he has first arrived in. It's completely destitute and devoid of life. Exhausted and hopeless, he stops. He casts his eyes on the bright expanse above and allows himself to get lost within the stars. The view is so beautiful, and it takes his breath away. Oddly, he finds it comforting to see the twinkling lights. He doesn't understand much about stars and planets, and details of how they work are lost to him, but he does know that they're evidences to the fact that his situation can't be so completely hopeless. The galaxy, even the earth alone, is wide and offers many things. There is a place out there for him, these creations tell him. He just needs to look for it and not allow his own insecurity to defeat him.
Assured by this message, Adam smiles. Maybe that's what he will do tomorrow. Find his place. There's bound to be a point where he can start. He just needs to be diligent and pay attention to any opportunities from now on.
He slips his helmet on to shield his face from the cold before looking for a hidden place to sleep in tonight. He's tired, and he knows sleep will serve him well.
"Hey. Pretty boy."
Adam turns around to the source of the voice and finds the man in the blue pick-up truck slowly walking closer to him. This time, however, he has four more men with him, each carrying a weapon of some kind. He's outnumbered, Adam quickly concludes, and it makes him nervous that his lack of perfect visual on his attackers can disadvantage him.
The man sneers. "I told you you're in the wrong neighborhood," he says.
Adam quickly thinks of a solution. They're circling around him, cornering him, and he can tell from their approach that he doesn't have enough time. He needs a move that will take them all out at once, because counterattacking person by person lessens his chances of getting out of this unwounded or, worse, alive.
Then, it comes to him.
The man and a few of the others chuckle derisively when they see him drawing his arms back to him, his fists balled, and his shoulders taut and steady like the frame of a slingshot. "What, you think screaming can save you?" he asks. "Fine. Scream. By the time they come, it's gonna be too late."
Determining that he has gathered enough, Adam releases the blast wave forcefully. The wave of energy knocks the men off their feet, flinging each of them some distance back. They all land ungracefully in the grass, weapons slipping out of their hands. Adam prepares for any who may get up, but his attention is caught by the message blinking on the screen – First Charge Activated.
If the back-up test suit is built the same way as the one that I wore, the impact from the energy might activate the chemicals, Leo's voice resounds from a memory.
Normal people English, Chase.
Blast wave equals you ending up in some other point in time.
"Blast wave. Of course," Adam mutters, eyes wide with realization.
He doesn't have to stay here. Maybe he can go back home.
As his would-be assailants struggle to get up, Adam gathers another wave of energy then discharges it. The image of the suit on the screen blinks, but no message of the second charge activating. So, again, he tries, but this time, he puts in more force into gathering. As he did, the streetlights around them flicker, and when he releases it, a few bulbs shatter.
Second Charge Activated, the screen says. However, Adam's unable to enjoy this victory as he feels a sharp pressure on his chest. Some of the blast has bounced against the rungs of the suit, and as a result the impact hit him.
Ignoring the pain, Adam prepares for the third one, but this time, even if he knows the risk, he puts in everything he has in it. More lights flicker as he gathers energy, some of them dying out as they drain of electricity and power. When he determines he's holding a substantial amount, which will hopefully suffice, he releases it.
A blinding white flash floods his sight, but he's not too sure if it's because the blast wave worked. Incredible pain shoots up his ribs and bones, and all air is knocked out of him. Losing all strength, he falls forward until all sounds and colors ebb into nothing around him.
Soon, his mind is in complete and utter darkness.
to be continued.