Title: The Time Traveler's Wife
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Pairing: Hiro x OC
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: "Yes, that's right. You're going. You've been gone for ages. You're already gone. You're still here. You've just arrived. I haven't even met you yet. It all
depends on who you are and how you look at it. Strange business, time."
Word Count: 1,098
Warnings: N/A

Disclaimer: Not mine. Summary belongs to Doctor Who.

A/N: I am pretending Heroes: Reborn doesn't exist.

When he appears in the middle of an alley in (from what he can tell is) the middle of nowhere, he is confused. He had been thinking about comic books. More specifically the upcoming issue of World Heroes that he was sure one of the main characters was a ringer for him. But so far that issue had been just a rumor, and neither he nor Ando could find any word about the writer or artist or publisher or even a tentative release date. It wasn't fair!

So he'd decided to go to his favorite comic book store on the outskirts of Akihabara (still close to main attractions, but less crowded than the tourist shops). But right before he bampfed out of there World Heroes popped into his head for no apparent reason. And now here he was, in a grungy alley way, in what was decidedly not Japan.

"Uh-oh."

A door slamming open against the brick wall of the alley made him jump, fists raised in an extremely non-threatening, terrified way. He lowered them slowly, hesitantly, when the person who stepped out paused to stare at him quizzically.

She was petite – like a gymnast or a figure skater – all clean lines and graceful motion. Her hair was pixie cut in an extremely geometric way, a deep black with an undertone of blue. Her eyes were a stormy grey and lines with kohl. She was staring at him, holding a bulging pair of trash bags, with her eyebrow arched severely. The look her in eyes was fond amusement.

"Ah… konnichiwa?" He opens his fists into a gesture of peace.

Her eyebrows pull down and she continues walking out, marching down the steps and to the dumpster. "Hiro, why are you in the alley?" She throws the bags into the trash, not noticing his confused expression. When she turns, her hands land on her hips and she stares at him like a mother scolding her child. He notices her shirt has Comics Straight to You emblazoned across it in slashing red letters. "Are you trying to sneak in and get a sneak peek at Worlds Heroes?"

He blinks. Oh no. Oh no. "Uh…"

She sighs. "Well, luckily for you, I've been saving a copy for you since we got them in last week. I figured you'd be here sooner or later." She heads back up the few steps to the door. "Come on then." Without waiting for an answer, she's walking inside and he scrambles in after her, not wanting to get locked outside.

Inside, the woman is marching down a hall crammed with stacks and stacks of comic books. Labels on the boxes feature some of the most beloved characters of Hiro's childhood. He stares around, open mouthed, a kid in a candy store, until she calls his name again and ushers him forward. "Come on, come on. You're not supposed to be back here. If Mr. McKinley sees you back here I'll get in trouble." He's barely passed the counter and back into customer space when a large man with beady eyes marches in an opposite door.

"Jamie! Have you finished putting away the newest shipment?"

"Yes, sir!"

As they chitchat about business, Hiro wanders around, looking unobtrusively for clues as to where – and when – he was. Outside, the streets and people were very clearly American. A big city, maybe Los Angeles? It looked like pictures of the city he had seen before. But the clock on the wall only showed the time, not the date, so he still didn't know how far he'd traveled.

"Here you go, Hiro!" He spins at the girl's (Jamie, he corrects himself) voice and reaches out for the comic she's handing him. It's the issue of Worlds Heroes that he and Ando have been trying to find. The cover is a clock – just like the one in the shop. "It just came out last week." The date in the upper corner says January 2019.

"Two thousand… nineteen?"

"Come again?" When he looks up, she is staring at him with worry clouding her tone. "Are you okay, Hiro? You look like you've seen a ghost…"

"Do I… come here a lot?"

She frowns. "I mean, not a lot a lot. I've only met you once. So I mean, I've seen people zero times, but I've seen other people way more. I don't know, don't you live in Japan?" She frowns at him.

"We met… before." He tries to make it sound like a statement, but he doesn't think he succeeds.

"Uh, yeah, you don't remember? I'm Jamie. Jamie Peterson." She laughs. "Not really memorable, I know. I only actually remember you so well because you were so crazy adamant that we were going to meet again and that Worlds Heroes would be the reason." She gestured to the book in his hands. "That's why I made sure to save you a copy."

"H- hai." He is very confused, but… but a hero must always trust himself, so he would know if she was a good person to make sure they met, because clearly he had already done it, right? His head hurt…

"You sure you okay?" She's concerned and he hastened to put her at ease.

"Hai! Arigato for your concern Jamie-chan, I am okay!"

She stares at him, judging whether he is telling the truth or not, and seems to come to an agreement. "Well… okay then." Suddenly she brightens, her smile is blinding. "Hey, if you're in town next month, there's going to be a fun party in the park for Valentine's Day. Wanna go?"

He blinks, blushes, and stammers out an answer. "O – okay!" When she waves him goodbye and heads back to the counter, he stares after her, debating. He could be good, go back to his own time line, live out his life as it is meant to be lived, meet Jamie that way, go on the date in his correct timeline…. But that would take over a year for him.

He squared his shoulders. He didn't want to wait that long. He squeezed his eyes shut, and vanished.