It was mid-day when he arrived at the warehouse, entered and found then intercom down to the place. He buzzed in. "Hello, anyone down there, its Independent Bear."

For a few seconds no one responded. Then Arrow's voice came up through the intercom, "Step back Indy. I'll open the door for you." Pressing the code into the pad, Arrow lifted the concealed hatch to allow Independent Bear to come in.

Indy smiled and descended, greeting Arrow at the bottom, "Thanks, Arrow," he said. Anyone could tell that Indy was clearly very exhausted, both from his sluggish lope, dirt matting into his fur more than normal, and his now hooded eyes.

"You look completely worn out. Tinker mentioned that Champ told her you guys were up to something. How'd it go?" It was only then he noticed Champ wasn't with Indy and his heart sank, "Oh no."

Indy sighed, wiping tears and dirt from his eyes, "We found a base with satellite tracking equipment. It was online and they would have found and attacked this place. We managed to storm the place and blow it apart, but Champ got hit. He's dead but I managed to get him out before that place exploded. I buried him in your graveyard before I came back here."

Arrow placed a hand on his shoulder smiling kindly even though his eyes were sad. "Thank you. We all appreciate everything you did. Want me to make up a bed for you so you can rest? I can spread the word to the others if you like."

"Thanks, but I need to clean off, I haven't washed myself in months, maybe years, not that anyone notices out there," Indy said.

Arrow nodded. "I'll take you to the showers." He suddenly chuckled. "Hopefully they'll be as good to you as they've been to everyone else lately."

Indy was confused, "What does that mean?" he asked.

"There have been a few changes in here over the week you've been gone." As if on cue a grey wolf came running down the hall towards them, a bottle clasped in his jaws.

Behind him came Ruby, also running with a monitor on her hip emitting a horrible crying noise. "That is the last time I leave him alone with Trick." As they passed Indy and Arrow she called, "Hey Indy." Before continuing on.

"Guess I'll find out later," Indy said as they reached the shower. Arrow left Indy to his devices as he undressed and stepped in to clean himself off. The water felt good, easing his physical aches and washing away the months of dirt and grime he'd picked up.

Several minutes later, Indy stepped out. He looked down at himself; with all the dirt and grime gone his natural white fur color was now visible. "Huh, I forgot my fur was white, and that my fur covered everything," he said. He didn't bother with his clothes, they were worn out anyway and wouldn't hold up any longer plus thanks to his fur he wasn't technically "naked", but he grabbed his sword, the only effect he still had from the wasteland, and headed to meet the others.

Trick was currently trying to get back in Ruby's good graces after he had caused Pledge to shriek for a solid hour.

"For the thousandth time, I had no idea that face I made would terrify him so badly."

She kept her back to him, continuing to rock the sleeping Pledge Heart in her arms. "He's a week old. Everything is new still. Keep that in mind if I ever let you baby-sit him again." Placing Pledge in his box something walking down the hall caught her eye. "Trick did you see that?"

"See what?" His hand went to the gun on his hip as both of them snuck to the door. Peering down the hall they saw a white care bear walking away from them. "Hey you! Who are you and how did you get in here?" Trick called as Ruby's hand went to her flame thrower.

Indy turned around to greet them, rolling his eyes, he should have expected this, "Trick, please, don't tell me that washing the grime and dirt out of my fur made me unrecognizable after we spent so much time holed up in a research lab. It's me, Independent Bear and this is my normal fur color, all the dirt dust and grime over the years, and the lack of regular access to a place to shower or clean myself without swallowing a ton of dirt just left my fur looking constantly dirty."

Ruby wrinkled her nose, "Eew that is majorly disgusting. Now I'm glad I never took a chomp out of you, it would have been like licking the floor."

Trick walked over to Indy hand outstretched, "Hey it's a complete 180 what can I say. I mean you're so white now I think if you had lived in Care-a-Lot you'd get lost against the clouds-and not to mention your lack of clothing."

"Yeah well my old clothes are pretty much in pieces," Indy said taking Trick's hand, "And in case you hadn't noticed, we don't need to wear clothes to be decent, but in this world they were needed for protection. I just got sick of the whole tech hunting game, especially after what happened to Champ," Indy added sadly.

Trick blinked, "What happened to Champ?"

Ruby came up placing her hand on his shoulder, "I don't think he's with us anymore Trick."

"Damn it." He clenched his paws briefly. His sadness didn't remain for long however, being used to watching people die over the years and he looked over his shoulder at Ruby. "I think you should follow Indy's example and disrobe. You heard him; we don't need to wear clothes."

He was then yelping in pain and falling to his knees as Ruby dug clawed fingers into his shoulder. "Does this look like a Care Bear body to you?" She motioned from her head to her toes.

Looking to Indy she told him, "I'm sorry you had to be there when it happened. I don't want details but I'm sure it was hard."

"I'm sure you'll hear them eventually," Indy said, "Once I tell the others I'm sure they'll want to know." Indy stretched and yawned, "But for now, I really really need to sleep, I've been walking for 4 days without any real rest."

"Keep going down this hall and you'll find some of the empty rooms. You can choose any of them to crash in." Releasing Tricks shoulder she allowed him to get to his feet.

Holding a hand to his wound he scowled at Ruby. "You are a hazard to my health." She merely smirked and walked away.

Turning back to Indy he told him, "Come down to the kitchen when you wake up. We actually have some edible food."

Indy just waved over his shoulder. He found the rooms easily enough and flopped down on the nearest bed, dropping his sword in its sheath by the side of his bed. He was asleep instantly.

Arrow had gone from leaving Indy in the shower to track down Loyal Heart and deliver the news of his friends death.

He ran into Loyal Heart after not too long. Loyal had seen Indy going to lie down and asked Arrow, "Arrow, who's the white bear I just saw heading for the unused bedroom?"

"White bear?" He looked at Loyal Heart as if he was hallucinating. "Oh! It must be Indy all cleaned up. He did say he hadn't had a decent shower in forever."

"That would make sense, and it would explain that pile of rags that used to be clothes I just threw out near the showers, wonder where all his gear vanished to?" Loyal Heart smiled briefly, "I can hardly recall when we all use to run around just 'in the fur' so to speak, before we needed this armor to protect us and the clothes to shield us from the elements."

He nodded in agreement. "Clothes are unnecessary when you have 4 legs and a tail. It seems so much simpler." Arrow had a thought, "You aren't going to all start to run around clothes less are you? Because I think it would weird me out too much."

"Not in this world," Loyal Heart said, "But from what Grumpy told me you're going to have to get used to that very soon."

Arrow groaned, "It's going to take Trick .04 seconds to take his clothes off. He is going to enjoy it way too much."

Loyal Heart chuckled, "Get used to it, Arrow, if they're going to blend in its required."

Something momentarily flashed through his eyes, "There is a lot that is going to be expected of us on this trip. Some of it I'm sure I can handle but the rest, is going to be hard."

Loyal Heart patted the young Pegasus' back, "I felt the same way, some missions and days were cakewalks, others pushed us to our limits and wore us right down. You're going back quite early so my advice is use the buffer we're giving you to just relax and enjoy yourself. Let yourselves live the lives we wanted you to have before you try to fix the future."

He smiled, "Believe me I will. Are you all going to be okay without us?"

"Yeah we'll be fine, besides it won't matter in the long run," Loyal Heart said.

Several hours later, Indy woke up. He took a moment to remember where he was and why he wasn't wearing his armor or clothes, then sighed. He'd been crying in his sleep. He sat up and then stood up, leaving his sword by his bed before heading for the kitchen and eating area.

Grumpy shoveled bites of his potato into his mouth. The vegetable itself wasn't an anomaly, it was the fact Trick and Thunder had tracked down and traded for butter, cheese, and sour cream that were fresh.

The others too were enjoying their super immensely and most of them were surprised when a white bear entered the room.

Trick however spoke up instantly. "Ladies and gentlemen I present Indy, squeaky clean!"

"That's Independent Bear?" Harmony asked, in disbelief.

"Guess your fur was really dirty from living out there," Tinker observed.

"Yeah, it's me," Indy said, sounding more mellow then he normally did," Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Arrow shifted his seat down a few inches so Indy could squeeze in between him and Melody Heart. "Pull up a chair and grab a potato before Grumpy eats them all."

"Thanks," Indy said, sitting down next to Arrow. He ate slowly, it was good cooked food, like he had never had before, but he ate conservatively, knowing how precious food was out here.

During the meal he spoke up, "In case you weren't aware, this isn't just a visit. If you'll have me I'd like to live here, with you guys. I'm getting sick of wandering around in the wasteland looking for technology and getting constantly shot at. Besides after what Champ and I pulled off this place should remain secure for a very long time."

"Are you sure this is what you want? Living here means you'll have to get used to thinking of others along with yourself." Grumpy told him, looking up at him from his spot at the head of the table.

"He's already done that Grumpy. He buried Champ for us, next to Cheer just like he wanted. And that was after he carried him back here." Arrow spoke up on Indy's behalf.

Everyone looked at Arrow, then at Indy.

"Is that true?" Polite asked, "Champ's dead?"

"Yes," Indy said, "I overheard some raiders talking about this group that was using a satellite to find areas of high technology so Champ and I decided to find and destroy their base so they couldn't find this place. We found the place, stormed it and set it to self-destruct. Champ was shot at close range, I didn't find out and I couldn't save him, so I did the next best him and got him out of there. I left almost everything I owned back there and got out in time for both of us to watch the place blow its top before Champ passed away. I had to carry him unarmed back this way, avoiding the raiders and soldiers who came to investigate the explosion and buried him before I came back here." Indy looked around, gauging the reactions of those gathered.

"I'd say he earned a room here." Ruby remarked to which Grumpy nodded, "We would have allowed you to stay regardless. But hearing what you did...well it means a lot. Excuse me." He got up as quickly as his cyborg limbs would allow and left the room.

"Thank you," Indy said. He finished his food and then got up, "Thanks for the food," Indy followed after Grumpy.

"You know when someone abruptly leaves a room they don't usually want company." He was covering the sorrow in his voice with harshness. He continued to walk away from Indy.

"Well forgive me, I'm new to this," Indy said, "I just wanted to offer some help with your technology, I'm not as smart as your daughter or you but I know my way around that stuff quite well."

He stopped briefly, "Talk to Tink about it. I'm fine with you helping but for now I really don't want company." He looked over his shoulder at Indy, "Tell her I'll meet you both in the workshop later."

"Ok," Indy said, turning away and heading back to the dining area. It was mostly deserted except for Harmony, Melody, Good Luck, and Polite. Indy said a quiet hi and went to find Tinker Bear, finding her rather quickly.

"Hey Tinker," he said, getting her attention, "Grumpy says he wants to see both of us into eh workshop later."

"Ok," Tinker said, "I'll see you there, in the meantime you should take a look around, this place is bigger than you saw before."

Thunder came up from behind Indy, "It sure is. I'm still learning my way around."

Indy turned, "Oh hi, you're that Pegasus we rescued from the raider camp. Your name's Thunder right?" he asked.

He nodded. "Looks like I'm not the only one who reaped the benefits of finally having a shower. It really does do wonders for you, being clean I mean."

"Yeah," Indy said, "So how have you been holding up since I left?"

"Much better I'm pleased to say. And soon to be even better then that I hope. But for now I've gotten enough strength to shift again. I ran past you in the hall earlier with Ruby."

"Ahh," Indy said, "well maybe you could fill me in on what's been going on here for the last week or so. Things seem to have become more active, granted I only visited here once before," Indy added, a bit confused.

"Well Ruby and Trick have gotten together, Pledge Heart hatched, Grumpy and Tinker having been working endlessly on the time machine...I think that's about it."

"Time machine?" Indy was surprised, "You mean that stuff we pulled from the R and D base let them make a time machine?"

He nodded. "I figured you knew that, seeing as how you offered to help with the technology. But they should have it up and running very soon and then we are sending the kids back in time, to keep this from ever happening."

"You mean this world will never happen?" Indy said. He thought for a minute, "I wonder, if that happens will they find me and bring me into the family?"

Thunder shrugged, "Anything is possible. Apparently finding long lost members of the Care Bear family was a regular occurrence. And I'm sure they'd appreciate any information you can offer on how to blend in."

"Not sure I'd be good at that," Indy said, "I never knew there was a family until about a week ago. The only blending in I did was to blend into the scenery so no one would even know I was there, made it easier to avoid the people who treated me like a freak."

Thunder nodded, "I'm there with you. I'm only any real help to Ruby and Arrow since all I'd ever been was the Falls and Care-a-Lot a handful of times." He glanced around and realized Tinker had left them, "Perhaps you should be getting to the lab soon. Grumpy might be over his er...grief by now."

"Yeah, makes sense," Indy said turning to leave, "see you later," he said, heading for the lab.

"Stupid *clank* ill-fitting *bang* piece of crap *clank* refusing to do what I tell it to! *SMASH*" Grumpy flung the microwave he had been trying to rebuild for the past few months against the wall and slumped down in his chair, arms resting on the table. "Why couldn't you listen Champ. I knew it was a bad idea." He rubbed a hand over his face, eyes drifting to his wife's picture. "We're going to make things right. I just wish he could have been here till the end."

"Is this a bad time dad?" Tinker asked concerned, having arrived in the workshop just as the microwave hit the wall.

Glancing over at her he shook his head. "You know how I get when someone dies. I'll be alright soon." He looked to the wreck of the microwave. "That however I'm afraid will never be alright again."

Tinker picked a piece out of the microwave, then tossed it aside, "It's alright dad, I promise we'll fix everything. We're almost done, the time machine will be finished tomorrow," she put her hands on her father's shoulders.

"Umm, should I come back later?" Indy asked from the nearby doorway.

"Not unless you want me to trash something else. Let's get to work, I need a distraction." Revolving his cyborg arm to the screwdriver he went to go make sure the power cells were in tight enough.

"Right," Indy said, "This stuff looks really advanced, who knew people had developed this kind of technology."

"Yeah, it's certainly advanced," Tinker said, "Indy pass me that stabilizer," she pointed to an item.

Indy rolled his eyes, he knew he'd probably just be an errand boy but honestly he had to do something, he might not have been as close to Champ as Grumpy had been but he still didn't want to think about it much and working was a good was to keep his mind off of it.

"Did you finish running the figures we talked about Tinker? I want to try and start configuring the drop point data tonight. Who knows how long it's going to take." Tightening the last of the power cell he flicked each on briefly to make sure they still worked.

"Almost," Tinker said, "I just need to make the specific calculations for the year range."

"About 18 months before that date I told you, you have to stop No-Heart by," Grumpy replied.

"Good, I'll have the data by tonight and we can begin final calibrations tomorrow morning," Tinker said.

"Those power cells looks stable, you might want to build a redundant backup power supply into that just in case any part of the first ones fail," Indy suggested.

"Why don't you work on that then." He pointed to a table loaded with unused technology.

"Right," Indy said. He'd made redundant power cells before, needed to start up technology he wanted to get his hands on, or fix it up to sell to people. He began working on the power cell array, checking his work to make sure it would fit with the rest of the power cells and generators.

As Grumpy watched Indy work he attempted to make conversation with him. "So...you seem to know a good amount about this stuff. Do you know anything about time machines?"

"No," Indy said, "I'd followed a few leads but I never learned anything about time travel technology. All I can really say is that the amount of power we need for this is going to be massive if we want the portal to be stable long enough to get people through." Indy checked the power cells he was working with, "but I must say I am impressed, these power cells each have more energy in them than most large sized generators I've seen out into the wasteland, did you find them or make them yourselves?"

"They were some of the ones Tinker brought back from that warehouse trip, but they only reacted to my cybernetics so we developed and adapted some of that tech to increase the power and be used by other things."

"That's interesting, I've never seen cybernetics before. Lots of people out there have lost limbs but they never can replace them," Indy commented, "I assume those are your own design?"

He nodded, "Bright Heart was still alive after my accident and we made them together. And Tinker has been helping me keep them maintained ever since."

"Nice," Indy said, finishing his first power cell array and deciding to make another set, just in case.

"They just need a recharge every night, though they can operate for 72 hours without a recharge if needed," Tinker said.

"Not that I'm ever allowed to go anywhere that might put me out of range of a power source." Grumpy grumbled.

Tinker sighed irritably, "Well sorry if I'm concerned for your health dad," Tinker got up, "I just need to finish the calculations I'll work on them somewhere else, see ya!" Tinker moved huffily out of the room.

"She's your daughter all right," Indy said, watching her go before going back to his work.

"Yes she is. And if you ever tell her that I'm glad she inherited my moodiness I'll deny every word." He had a small smile on his lips as he finished up his project.

"I doubt I'll tell her that, being alone so long I find it hard to share my own feelings and thoughts on situations, let alone others," Indy pushed his first set of backup power cells over to Grumpy, "How's this so far?"

He picked it up and looked it over, turning it this way and that. "Not bad. If you finish these then we can call it a night. I'm pretty much done with everything I needed to do."

"Right, shouldn't take me much longer. You can go unless you want to help," Indy offered.

Grumpy scoffed and spread his arms, "This is my room. Where am I going to go? It's you who is going to have to leave." He smirked a little at Indy.

"All right," Indy rolled his eyes, "I'll make sure I leave as soon as I'm done with these, just a few more minutes."

Tinker was sitting in the dining area, papers spread out in front of her. She was working on the calculations for the time travel. She stared at one of the papers trying to figure out one last set of numbers that was critical, once she figured this out she could go to bed. She rubbed her forehead in frustration.

Arrow came into the kitchen area, whistling a tune as he grabbed a mug to get some tea. Leaving through the dining room he saw Tinker sitting at the table looking completely stressed out. He placed the mug on the table in front of her, "Here, it looks like you need this more than me."

"Huh," Tinker looked up, "oh thanks Arrow, I think I need a break anyway," she took a sip of the tea.

Pulling the sheet with the calculations out from under her nose his eyebrows raised, "This is some pretty impressive mathematics you have going on here."

"You have no idea," Tinker lamented, "Time travel isn't just about figuring where we want to end up, it's when, and that when adds so many extra calculations, plus compensating for temporal distance, it's enough to even give me a headache, and it has," she said, holding her head. She drank some more of the tea and said, "Ugg, I'm stiff right now," she said, placing her free hand on the back of her neck.

Gently he moved her hand aside and began massaging her shoulders. "How does that feel?"

Tinker sighed, "Very good, thanks Arrow," she said, drinking more of the tea.

"Hey it's the least I can do, especially since it's you and your dad doing all the work. Although I don't think I'll be offering him a massage. Doesn't really seem like his thing." He called some of his Pegasus magic to his hands to introduce heat to her tense muscles.

Tinker sunk into her seat, enjoying the warm massage, she smiled to herself, "Yeah, I doubt that he'd go for that. Ooh, your good at this," she complimented him.

He smiled down at her, "Well it's no time machine but it has its uses. I had to do Ruby the other day after that flight you guys went on so I've had plenty of practice."

"That was a nice flight," Tinker commented, "And once we get back there I'll be living up in the sky so I figured I should at least experience actual flight before we go back," she looked up at Arrow, "Are you excited?" she asked.

"Very. I'm trying to expect too much though ya know? I don't want to be disappointed. I just want to enjoy seeing everything. How about you?"

Tinker sighed and set the now empty tea cup down, "Mostly, I just want to meet my mother," she admitted.

"To see how you match up against her speed wise right? I remember you mentioning that before."

Tinker smiled, "Yeah, I want to race her to see how I measure up," she said, "There must be something you and Ruby want to do once you're back in time with us."

"To see our parents of course, even though Rubes is refusing to admit it. She never really got over them sacrificing themselves for us. I want to see our kind. It's been hard all these years knowing you're the last of something." He let his hands slide a little lower down her back.

"I know the feeling, sort of," Tinker said, "I know there are more of us but we're still the last of so many." Arrow's massage seemed to be softening her emotions as well as a tear formed in her eye, "Every time I think about those graves we made for them, I look at them and the ones I barely knew or never got to really meet," she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"That's got to be hard. But soon you will get to meet them and have all of your questions answered." His hands softened momentarily, "Do you think the four of us would have been friends if none of this had ever happened?"

Tinker smiled, "Probably, Our parents were close friends so I'm sure they would have introduced their kids to each other and we would have seen each other a lot more than most."

"Good. I value you and your brother too much to think what we have never would have existed." He thought of something else, "Is it going to be weird seeing your dad?"

"You mean without the cybernetics?" Tinker asked, "Yeah it will be kinda weird, but also good. Hmm cybernet- that's it!" Tinker immediately leaned forwards and grabbed her pencil, writing furiously and recording a set of numbers, "Yes that's it!" she shouted, "That's how it's done I got it!" She jumped up and hugged Arrow, "Thanks for helping me relax or I'd never have figured this out."

Laughing her hugged her back. "My pleasure. I like it when you relax and let your walls down, it's much easier to talk to you."

"Well once we get back there, I won't be so tense. Dad said we can't just go after No-Heart cause he'll probably be watching us 'new arrivals' for a while so we can just relax and do what we want to do," Tinker said, looked up at Arrow.

"I like the sound of that. There is a lot I want to do once we get back there." He murmured to her. In a quick movement he kissed her nose and removed himself from her arms. "Get some sleep Tinker; I'll see you in the morning." Completely forgetting about making himself another cup of tea he fled from the room, a wide grin spreading over his face.

Tinker stood there, blushing, but quickly composed herself, smiled, grabbed the final calculations she needed and headed back to the workshop. She dropped the notes next to the time machine with a paperweight and a message saying "final time travel calculations" before heading to bed.

She threw off her clothes and climbed into her bed. Tomorrow was going to be exciting indeed.

The next morning the hideout was in a flurry of activity. At breakfast Grumpy told the 6 going everything they would have to leave behind in order to not disrupt the continuum. He then had them answer a series of questions to make sure they all knew the story they were sticking with. Thunder and Loyal Heart aided them in this part, making sure all areas of expertise were covered. They were then let free to say their final goodbyes to those not going. Ruby spent much of her time fretting over Pledge Heart and going over very detailed instructions with Polite and Good Luck.

Eventually, they managed to drag Ruby away promising that Pledge Heart would be taken care of. They assembled in front of the time machine, which was on and ready but without a portal at the moment.

Grumpy surveyed them and said, "One thing, you four," he said to Melody Heart Lioness, Trust Heart Dog, and his twin children, "No clothes. It sounds weird but we rarely wore any back then except for weather or some work and you'll need to be able to fit in. Don't worry it's fine, and don't bring anything back with you, if any of this technology goes back with you it could make things worse, such as no survivors on this planet at all."

The four looked at each other and resignedly removed their clothes, Trust Heart helping his half-sister as being in a wheelchair limited her movement.

Tinker stood up, fully undressed, "This certainly feels odd," she commented.

Trick flexed his muscles, "I kinda like it! It makes me feel free and uninhibited."

Ruby smacked a hand over her eyes.

Arrow smirked and nudged her, "And that is your boyfriend."

She lowered her voice to a whisper for his ears only, "At least I haven't avoided looking at him like some people."

Blushing his eyes flicked quickly in Tinkers general direction.

"I'll be right back, there's one more thing I have to do." With that Trick left the room, headed for the garage.

"Why's he leaving?" Trust Heart asked.

"I'll give you three guesses," Tinker said, rolling her eyes.

Grumpy stepped forwards and handed a rather thick piece of paper to his daughter, "Here, this is a timeline of critical events from the time you arrive to the point of no return, it will be your biggest advantage as long as you don't mess with the timeline more than going back will do so."

"Thanks dad, I'll be sure to put it to good use," she said, holding onto the paper tightly.

He pulled the cover off his bike one last time, sighing deeply as he looked upon the red paint. Sitting next to the front wheel he placed a hand on the body, patting it lightly. "I know these last few days have been hard for you, what with having to share me with Ruby and hearing all about how I'd be leaving you." His patting caused the bike to shift slightly and the kick stand to groan. "No no darling, don't speak! I need to get this out." He got up to straddle the seat, leaning heavily on the handle bars, "We had some good times you and I. You were always the one I could count on most. It was you I turned to on my worst days to make me feel better. I'm going to miss riding around on you and working on you every day."

"Oh Trick I'm going to miss you too. No one could change my oil the way you could."

He sat up startled, "Did you really just say something?"

Ruby stood outside the door hidden from view trying her best not to laugh, "Of course Trick. You're love brought me to life, I only wish I'd let you know sooner."

He wrapped his arms around the bike, "Oh bike! You've made it so hard for me to leave you! I'm going to break up with Ruby right away, you're the only one for me!"

Ruby gasped involuntarily.

"I know it's a shock, but who needs an abusive girlfriend like her when I have you."

Looking into the room now she saw him stroking the bike with his eyes closed and a stupid smile on his face. Marching in she pinched his ear and pulled up, "All right creeper, funs over."

"Oww oww oww. Ruby! I never noticed how similar your voice was to my bikes." He laughed through his pain at her.

She sighed in relief, "Oh good, I was hoping you really weren't that stupid." She released his ear. "You ready to go?"

He nodded, "One more second." Kneeling down once more he placed a light kiss on his mom's tummy symbol, "You've been a great substitute, but it's time I met the real thing." Getting up he slung an arm around Ruby and they headed from the room. As soon as they were gone a single drop of water dripped from a pipe above and slid slowly over the winged heart.

Grumpy saw his son and Ruby return, "All right," he said, "Now that that's settled it's time," he looked over to Independent Bear, "How's the power."

"All systems are ready, if ever there was a time to fire this thing up, it's now," Indy said, checking the power supplies.

"Right, temporal coordinates entered," Grumpy said, punching in the figures his daughter had given him, "And ready now!" he hit the last switch. At first nothing happened then the machine began making a loud noise. The large doorway-like portal began to glow and slowly but surely an image appeared, slowly becoming more and more solid until the shimmering image of a forest, pristine and unspoiled by the war, appeared.

"The power won't hold for long, GO! GO! GO!" Indy shouted. Without any hesitation the six time travelers shot through the gate, tinker helping Trust Heart push Melody's wheelchair through the portal. A moment after the vanished the machine shut down.

"Not a moment too soon," Indy said, wiping his forehead which had been sweating, "the backup power cells had to take over at the last second, any longer and that might not have worked."

"Well they're through," Polite observed, "Think they'll be all right?"

"They'll be fine," Harmony said, "I have faith in them."

"So now what?" Loyal Heart asked.

"Now we wait," Grumpy said, "we wait and hope they don't mess things up."