A/N: I'm literally so overwhelmed by the interest in this story, especially since I started to regret it after I posted the Prologue. But, regardless, I am going to finish the story and we're going to begin that path with this next chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

Note: I don't think I mentioned this anywhere, but Joel is living at Tommy and Maria's house at the Compound.


The Machine

Ten years later . . .

Joel is awakened from his uneasy slumber by the early morning sunlight. He groans and throws his right arm over his eyes, willing himself to return to sleep.

Right as Joel can feel the world of unconsciousness approaching, someone knocks on his door. Joel furrows his brow in irritation as a familiar laugh reaches his ears.

"Rise and shine!" the voice calls, sounding too cheery for this early in the morning.

"Go away, little brother," Joel growls, wanting nothing more than to slug his sibling in the face.

Tommy laughs again and bangs on the door. "Come on, Joel! Up and at 'em! You don't want me to get Maria, do you?"

Joel involuntarily shivers. When she wants something, she gets it, and if she wants Joel up, then he gets up lest he faces her wrath. Maria both equally amuses and terrifies him. She's perfect for Tommy.

The man sighs. "Fine, Tommy, I'm up. I'll meet you in the kitchen in ten."

"Alright, see you soon!" Tommy says before Joel hears his footsteps disappearing down the hall.

Joel sighs, throwing the covers off his body and perching himself on the edge of his bed. It's been ten years since "The Incident," as Joel began referring to the events at the Firefly Headquarters in Salt Lake. Joel shakes his head. He still can't believe the girl he spent nine months with—the girl who nursed him back to health and whom he begun to see like a daughter—is gone. In between expeditions he runs with some of the boys for the camp, Joel makes sure he visits Ellie's grave and tells her about how things are going. Every year on the anniversary of her death, the camp gathers, and holds a service to celebrate her life.

He sighs and glances at his nightstand where the framed picture of him and Sarah after her first soccer tournament (he found the frame on an expedition roughly nine years ago) and his journal rest. Joel sighs. He doesn't have much to remind him of Ellie—just some ratty old comics, his journal entries, and his memories (which are beginning to fade with his advancing age). He's starting to have a hard time remembering the years with Sarah before the outbreak began. The only thing Joel has to remind him of those times is his journal and Tommy.

The man buries his head in his hands. If only the scientists would have had control over the infected before the lab exploded back in Texas where he and Sarah were living over thirty years ago. Maybe is daughter would have lived longer than she did—she could have been alive to this day and here with Joel! Tommy would definitely be happy for sure, he always loved spoiling his favorite niece ("I'm your only niece, Uncle Tommy," Sarah would retort, which always had Tommy bursting with laughter).

Joel shakes his head, clearing his mind. This is why he sleeps in—early mornings turn him into a nostalgic fool.

The man rises from his bed, gathers some clothing, and hops into the shower. In the past ten years, he's fallen into a routine: get woken up by Tommy, shower, breakfast, work, lunch, more work, dinner, relaxation, bed, repeat. There are exceptions to the established routine via expeditions for supplies and random infected attacks (which have dwindled over the years).

Still, Joel can't find himself becoming tired of his routine and the averageness of it. The whole thing reminds him of the past—hell, he and Tommy have even been joking like they used too when they were younger. While Joel can't begin to talk about Ellie, he is starting to bring up Sarah more in conversations, much to Tommy's delight and surprise. He still can't talk about the night she died, but he and Tommy have been reminiscing of outings they took together years ago before all this shit started.

Joel finishes his shower and dries himself off before dressing. He pulls on a faded red plaid shirt, a pair of worn blue jeans, and black shoes. The man had found these items on an expedition and decided to hang onto them, an action Tommy encouraged. After all, new clothes are hard to come by, especially ones in decent condition like Joel found.

He finishes dressing and looks in the mirror. His beard and hair could use a trim, but he doesn't have the energy for that right now. Maybe he can get Maria to do it for him later. She's never minded in the past, and she once told Joel that doing other people's hair always relaxes her—said she used to be a hair dresser before everything went to hell.

Joel sighs, heading out of his bedroom and towards the kitchen.

"Did you get lost on the way here?" Tommy greets with a smile as he enters the kitchen.

Maria rolls her eyes and sets a plate of pancakes on the counter, which grabs with a curt thank you. She smiles. "You're welcome, and don't forget my rule! If I cook, you two do the dishes."

"I helped you cook today, though," Tommy protests.

"And you can help even more by doing the dishes," Maria says fondly before placing a kiss on Tommy's cheek.

Joel chuckles and digs into his pancakes. "Maria you have such a talent for pancakes."

"Why thank you, gracious one," she jokes, earning a smile from Joel.

"Tommy! Tommy!" a voice crackles over the walkie-talkie.

Tommy exchanges a glance with Joel before picking up the walkie. "I'm here; go ahead, Matt."

"The expedition team has returned and they've found some interesting technology," Matt informs. "It appears to be in pretty good condition despite the fact that it's probably been abandoned for . . . I'd say forty years. I'm having the boys bring it to the tech lab. Oh man, the scientists and engineers are going to flip!"

Tommy chuckles. "That they will. Thanks Matt. Keep me posted."

"No problem. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something," Matt says, and with those words, the walkie falls silent.

"Technology, huh," Maria says with a curious gleam in her eyes. "I wonder what it could be?"

Tommy shrugs. "I guess we'll find out."


Two weeks later, Matt contacts Tommy over the walkie and informs him that they know what the mystery technology is.

Joel, Tommy, and Maria head over to the lab where Shannon Baines, the head scientist, and Tamera Lorre, the head engineer, greet them. Shannon is short and plump with light red hair that falls to her shoulders, olive skin, and green eyes alight with excitement. Tamera is tall and lean with a shaved head, dark skin and glasses resting on her nose. Both women are wearing buttoned up white lab coats, black slacks, and black shoes.

Tommy nods to the pair in greeting. "Show us what you found," he says.

Shannon and Tamera lead the trio further into the lab. They arrive in a spacious, well-lit area, with computers and machines scattered around the room and hooked up to various wires. In the center of the room, sitting on a platform, is a machine that looks like something out of Back to the Future.

Joel snorts at the thought. He's surprised that he still remembers that movie, let alone the reference.

"What the hell is this?" Maria asks, warily looking at the machine front front of her.

"From what we can gather, it appears to be the beginnings of a time machine," Shannon says, barely containing her excitement at this discovery.

"Time machine? Like in the movies?" Tommy questions.

"That's what we've concluded," Shannon says. "There's not much else it could be, in all honesty."

Tommy shakes his head. "We all knew that the U.S. Government was up to some suspicious shit, but I'd never think any of it would be true."

Joel looks at the machine with curiosity. Ellie would get a kick out of this; she had a massive love science fiction. He can imagine her smiling and jumping around at the prospect of being able to go back. ("Joel, this is the coolest thing ever! We have to go back, we have to!" she would have exclaimed).

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. Now, isn't the time to be thinking about the past. Joel looks at the four people standing in front of him, who are now conversing quietly together, wondering if the machine would actually work.

"We don't know for sure if it will be functional; it appears to be a prototype that hasn't been tested," Tamera says, which causes Joel to realize that he actually voiced his thoughts aloud. "There is a slight possibility that we could be able to get it to work, but it will be difficult especially since we don't have the blueprints."

Joel and Tommy exchange a glance.

Tommy shrugs. "Worth a shot, right?"

Joel nods his agreement.

"Maria? What do you think?" Tommy asks.

Maria turns away from the machine to look at her husband. "I say we go for it," she says with a smile.

Tommy returns her smile before turning to Shannon and Tamera. "See what you can do."

The two women grin and nod, enthusiastic at the prospect of getting their hands on new technology.

"I always did love a challenge," Tamera says, her grin widening. "We'll keep you posted, Tommy."

Tommy nods before watching the pair walk away, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. He turns to look at his wife and his brother. "You wanna head out?"

Maria nods. "Let's go," she says before leading the men out of the lab.


Dinner that night was an interesting affair.

Ever since they went to the lab, the trio hasn't stopped talking about the time machine and all the wonderful things they could do.

Tommy joked about going to the Jurassic Age and living amongst Joel's people. Joel pushed his brother off his chair in retaliation for the jab and his age. Maria laughed and called them both idiots.

Maria talked about wanting to go back and see her grandmother, who died when she was ten. The woman loves her grandmother more than anyone (even Tommy), and often talks fondly of the other woman. Joel and Tommy are familiar with the stories, and know that Maria would love the chance to see her again.

Joel mentioned wanting to go back and see his parents again. Tommy smiled fondly, no doubt thinking of their past before their parents were in that accident. Joel continued speaking about how he would also like to track down Patient Zero and punch them in the face. It was Patient Zero's fault as to why the infection happened in the first place. ("Why stop at punching," Maria had questioned. "Just full on shoot him—I'd love to do the honors.")

The man would have let her in a heartbeat.

Maria announces that dinner (spaghetti—a rarity, but a delicacy) is ready.

The trio piles a proportionate amount of food on their plates and settles at the kitchen table, finally stalling in their talks of time travel and machines in favor of stuffing their faces with Maria's wonderful cooking.

"Hey," Maria says later into the meal, twirling around the spaghetti on her plate. "If one of us could actually go back in time, who do you think it should it be?"

"Me," Joel declares without hesitation.

"Joel, are you sure?" Tommy asks, giving his brother a look of concern.

"I'm tired, Tommy," Joel says, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him. "I'm just an old man, and you need these young people. You, Tommy, need to be here for your family, and these nice people and their families."

"You're my family too, Joel," Tommy argues, with a hint of desperation in his voice. "That hasn't changed."

"Don't argue with me, little brother," Joel warns, tightening his grip on his fork. " Joel warns, tightening his grip on his fork.

Tommy looks angry; his lip is even starting to curl upward, which is something that happens when the man is either furious or passionate about something. Joel has seen this look many times, and they've nearly always been directed at him.

After a few tense moments, Tommy sighs, his face falling into a look of reluctant acceptance. "If you did go back, what would you do?"

Joel takes a breath, and doesn't respond.