A/N: So this is obviously ignoring the events of For King and Country, which was awesome! But I digress. Here's another kind of short chapter. It felt like it should end here, so I let it. But not to worry, there will more soon enough. If anyone's curious, today's chapter title comes from the Sonata Arctica song 'Caleb.'

Disclaimer: I own Alice, and not a whole lot else.

Chapter Three: Lost One More Way Back Home

The time machine was a brass pedestal covered in dials and levers, which sat on top of a disc-like circular base about three feet in diameter. It sat in the middle of the lab, propped up on blocks to allow easier access to the power source in the base of the pedestal. Tesla stood beside it, disconnecting copper wires and dismantling the device with his right hand.

"And you were so young and beautiful," he said quietly.

"What?" Alice asked, standing behind him.

"Oh, not you. This," Tesla replied, pointing to the power source. He went back to tinkering for a moment. "You didn't happen to hit this with a sledgehammer, did you?" he asked without looking back at her.

"No," Alice replied flatly. "I may have… kicked it a few times."

"You poor thing," Tesla said to the device. He turned back to Alice. "It's no wonder it stopped working. You've been abusing it for how long now?"

Alice squinted, thinking. "A year? Maybe two. It's hard to keep track of time when I don't stay in one place and time for very long."

"Well, it's about to get a lot easier," Tesla replied. "Welcome to 2010. You'll be staying a while." He turned back the time machine.

Alice rushed over to stand right beside him. "What? You mean you can't fix it? I'm stuck here?"

"Of course I can fix it," Tesla said. "Genius, remember? It's more of a matter of if I'll fix it."

"Why wouldn't you?" Alice demanded. "I thought you wanted to get rid of me."

"Yes, but it would almost be worth it just to see you so uncomfortable," Tesla replied with a grin.

"Are you two being civil?" Helen asked, entering the lab. She looked from Tesla's smirk to Alice's horrified look. "I assume not."

"He's trying to trap me in this godforsaken time period!" Alice declared.

"The poor child doesn't sit still well," Tesla said, still grinning, and turning back to the machine.

"I am not a child!" Alice protested. "I'm twenty… seven? Twenty eight?"

"Yes, but by comparison," Tesla said gesturing between himself and Helen, "you're barely a toddler. Maybe you need a nap."

Alice's jaw dropped, and she stood a moment in stunned fury. "Screw you, Tesla!" she declared finally and stormed out of the lab.

"Do you need to be so hard on her?" Helen asked.

"No," Tesla replied. "But it's more fun that way." At Helen's disapproving look, he sighed. "This machine could have been the key to bringing back the greatest race of abnormals that ever lived. And she knew that's what I would use it for, but still she led me along with her promises of grand adventures in time, all the while making me believe that I would get something for my troubles. One trip, that's all I would have needed. But she wouldn't even give me that."

"So you're going to condemn her to being trapped out of her time?" Helen asked.

Tesla looked straight at her. "We're all out of our time, Helen." He turned back to the time machine. "Besides, it's not like she would go back to 1890 anyway. She wants to go everywhere so she doesn't have to stay anywhere."

"How do you know?" Helen asked. "You haven't exactly had a proper conversation since she got here."

"She was the same way in 1890. That's why she wanted to build this thing in the first place," Tesla replied, pulling the power source completely free of the machine. "What has she done to you?" he asked it.

Helen resignedly shook her head and walked out of the lab. Once her back was turned, Tesla looked up and silently watched her leave.