Chapter 3 - Saving Stewie, But at a Price

Outside the toy store, the rest of the Griffins were still shopping.

"Oh," Peter began, "this Christmas Carnival has everything: games, food... Oh, my God, it's the carolers from A Christmas Story."

As Peter pointed out, the Chinese carolers were singing "Deck the Halls," but they kept having trouble with their L and R sounds.

"That's right, America," Peter reminded, "don't forget. Your beloved holiday movie is incredibly racist."

"And flom not that rong ago," one of the carolers added.

Lois was impressed. "I'm glad you're enjoying the Carnival, Peter," she said. "Now where are Brian and Vinny?"

"Yeah," Meg added. "I hadn't seen them since we came into the mall."

"Me, neither," Chris added.

"Oh, I bet they're just taking pictures at the photo booth," Peter guessed.

Back in the toy store, Vinny met with Brian at the "Employee's Only" section. Brian had the return pad in paw.

"All right, Brian," Vinny said. "Whatever you gotta do, do it quick. Stewie's in the back changing into a pair of tap shoes, for some reason."

"That's good," Brian replied. "Now, if I get things set up correctly, I can set the coordinates to the moment before Stewie got killed and I can save him."

"Oh, yeah," Vinny caught on, "Scott Bakula and all that."

"Yes, Vinny, Scott Bakula," Brian repeated. "Well, thanks for your help."

"You bet," Vinny replied.

"You realize," Brian explained, "if I save Stewie, Lois will not have made that coin-toss decision to buy you, which means we will never have met. I'll probably never see you again."

"Oh," Vinny understood.

"So, I guess this is goodbye."

"Hey, a dog is man's best friend, right?"

The two dogs smiled sadly at each other. Brian patted Vinny's head.

"Just tell the Griffins that I've gone to take care of some things, okay, Vin?"

"Will do, Brian."

With that, Vinny walked off to return to the Griffins while Brian disappeared with the return pad.

At Brian's destination, his past self and Stewie were both ready for their street hockey game. Past Brian was carrying the net while Stewie carried the hockey sticks. The two made their way to the street.

"Okay, Brian," Stewie began, "I'm just putting this out there, but I'm a baby, and only dicks don't let babies win."

Finally, the two were on the road.

"God," Past Brian said, "look at this day, huh? You know, usually, I'd be sitting inside writing, you'd be working on one of your machines, but here we are enjoying it."

"Yes, it is a nice change of pace," Stewie agreed. Then, he realized, "Oh, wait. I got to go grab my knee pads. I was using them for...for...for this other thing. Anyway, I'll be right back."

Stewie went inside the house while Past Brian put the net together. Unknown to both of them, however, Brian had appeared next to an external wall. Before he could go any further, Stewie heard the sound of screeching tires. A car caressed toward an unsuspecting Past Brian. This shocked Stewie.

"Brian," Stewie called, "look out!"

Without thinking, Stewie ran to Past Brian as fast as he could with his tiny legs. Brian followed him. Stewie jumped and pushed Past Brian out of the way. As soon as he did, Brian did the same for Stewie, right before the car plowed violently into him and continued on, leaving his mangled body lying in the street.

Stewie awoke atop Past Brian and exuberantly placed his hands on his chest.

"I'm alive," he whispered. "I'm alive!"

"Yeah, me, too," Past Brian added. "But what the hell's going on here?"

The two heard Brian's groaning in pain.

"Oh, my God!" Stewie shouted as Past Brian's eyes widened in panic.

The two rushed to the mangled dog.

"Brian, where the hell did this you come from? You didn't use my cloning machine, did you?"

"No," Brian answered, struggling. "I'm...him...from...the future."

"The future?" Past Brian repeated.

"I...had to save Stewie from suffering the...same fate I did."

Stewie shed tears not only of grief, but also of joy. "Thank you so much."

Past Brian noticed that Stewie and Brian were fading away.

"Stewie," he began, "what... What's happening to you?"

Stewie noticed. "Oh, my God. I'm fading away. And so is the Brian from the future."

"The...return pad," Brian groaned. "It's near the house. You have to send it back...to where it came from."

"I'll do it," Past Brian declared as he understood. Rushing to the pad, Past Brian pressed the center button, and it disappeared. As it did, Stewie faded completely back in, but Brian continued to fade out.

"Oh, Brian," Stewie cried. "Thank you for saving me. Many other families would have moved on and gotten another baby."

"You're...welcome, Stewie," Brain replied. With a smile, he raised his head and continued, "Merry...Christmas, my friend."

Before he could die, Brian faded out completely from existence. His timeline had ceased to exist. As that Brian no longer existed, Past Brian, who was now the main Brian, laid a paw on Stewie's shoulder, as he began to cry.

"It's okay, Stewie," Brian assured. "If it weren't for him...or, me, you'd have died in his place."

Stewie smiled sadly at what Brian had said.

Before the timeline was erased, Vinny had walked back to the rest of the Griffins.

"There you are, Vinny," Lois said. "Where's Brian?"

"Oh," Vinny began, "he said he had something to take care of."

Before he could continue, he noticed Stewie fade into existence in Lois's now-cupped hands; he wore an elf costume. Brian, wearing his Santa hat, faded in as well. Then, Vinny started to fade out.

"Thank you, big brother," he whispered, accepting his fate. "I'm coming home."

With that, Vinny faded out of existence, while the Griffins, now a whole family again, then paid no notice that Vinny was ever there.

Back in the toy store, Stewie tapped a foot in waiting while his return pad returned in his backpack.

"Hmmm," he wondered, realizing. "Starting to think that guy wasn't a real modeling agent. And I'm starting to think that other guy wasn't a real penis-butt inspector."

Flash-forward to Christmas Day at the Griffin house. The entire family was unwrapping gifts while Brian and Stewie sat near the tree.

"Here you go, Stewie," Brian said, handing Stewie a gift. "Merry Christmas."

Stewie opened the gift. It was a picture of the two of them, with the words "Friends Forever" engraved below the frame.

"Brian," Stewie said. "It's wonderful. But not as wonderful as what you did for me several months ago. Thank's for everything, Brian."

"You're welcome, Stewie," Brian replied. "You're my best friend, and I love you, even though that really creepy eye contact you've been making with me all morning is starting to bug me."

The End

Author's note: Well, I hope you've enjoyed this sequel to "The Depressed Dog", and Brian is no longer depressed now that Stewie's life has been saved. I also hope Cybrawler253 enjoyed it, too. I assume that she, and the rest who enjoyed this fanfic, have a wonderful Christmas. Peace.