"Oh snap." Virgil said quietly.
He knew Derek wouldn't say anything to him, but to Stephanie that was another matter. He'd had residual memories of how Derek treated her in front of him. He didn't know if he could stand up to Derek here. He was even worse because he fed off Virgil and that fuel had been going on for so long there was no telling how it would react.
"Stephanie! We're supposed to be studying. What are you doing with Virgil?" Derek stopped in front of the two. "What are you crying for?" He turned to Virgil. "What's she been telling you?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just that she's worried about my fractures and all this work I have to do. She doesn't like to see me in pain."
It was such a convincing lie both Virgil and Stephanie believed it, so it was no wonder that Derek believed.
"Well…that'll teach you not to get caught stupid." He slapped Virgil on the back, making the healing ribs hurt again. Hell, they always hurt, but this was major pain. "Come on Steph, leave this moron to his cleaning. Maybe next time he won't be tempted to be so nice to dorks."
Derek grabbed Stephanie by the arm and pulled her down the hallway. She turned and gazed at Virgil as she walked away. At that moment, Virgil actually worried that something could happen to Stephanie. It was almost like his being there was causing Derek to act like more of a jerk and Stephanie was likely to be the recipient of the anger.
/GG/
Virgil finished cleaning and headed for anyone. He wanted to make sure they were willing to help Stephanie when he was gone. He ran into Zeke and for a moment thought about trying to get the tall guy to pursue Stephanie in a romantic way. Who better to trust with the one he couldn't have then one of the ones he trusted with his life? He decided to keep that a secret for the moment though; don't scare anyone and it mightn't work anyway.
"I'm not a baby sitter Virg." Zeke all but snapped.
Virgil took a step back, trying to put this in a way that didn't sound like he was desperate.
"I don't want you to baby sit her, or date her or anything. I just want you to make sure she doesn't go back with Derek or me when I'm gone." Virgil said. "That sounded strange." Zeke's expression was almost blank. "You know what I mean. She needs friends and I am a pretty convincing rat and Derek is just a bag of jerk. Just be her friend so she doesn't think she's alone."
"Whatever." Zeke said as he pushed the last of the equipment into the room they planned on jumping from.
It was the same room the minutemen had used in the other reality. Only in this one the room had been clean. Someone obviously used the room recently, but it seemed to be deserted for the moment. Virgil just hoped no one would come in on them while they were in the process of sending him home. Or come in on them after he was finally gone.
They were going to do it all in one fell swoop rather than do it over days at a time. This was much easier than dragging it out. If Virgil was here in this reality much longer, then there were bound to be some problems anyway. Better to stop it as soon as possible.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Jeanette asked as she walked into the room with Charlie at her heals.
"It better." Virgil stated.
"Are we really that bad you want to get rid of us so soon?" Charlie asked.
"You know better than I that there's no telling what sort of crap might occur with me here rather than where I belong."
The words stung everyone and Virgil recoiled rather quickly. It was the truth though. The sooner it was over then the less likely the timeline would change too drastically.
They all knew it as they set to work putting together the machine that would in a short amount of time get Virgil back to where he belonged.
/GG/
Within three days the project had been complete. All five of the kids stood back to admire their handy work.
"That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life." Zeke finally said after a few moments of utter silence.
"Give us a break. We were rushed. From what Virgil told me we spend weeks on this when he made it the first time." Charlie said with a little bit of distain.
"Relax, both of you." Stephanie snapped. "Let's just see if this thing works. That way we can get Virgil back home."
Everyone in the room noticed her less than kind tone when saying that. In fact, she was mad. There was no question about her being extremely upset and doing this just because she felt she had to, not because she wanted to.
Virgil was heartbroken. He knew what he was doing to the girl, to all of them as a matter of fact. He was going to a better place and leaving all four of them to fend for themselves in the jungle. Truth be told, that was what they needed. In order to become a pack, they needed to work together and this was supposed to help them.
Still, hearing poor Stephanie's pain felt like a kick to the stomach. He eyed her as Charlie and Jeanette went to the computer to turn on the device. In that small moment he thought about staying, but that wouldn't be fair to any of them or him. Either of him. Sure, he was a pompous ass, but he was still a person and that person deserved to live.
"You don't have to say it. I know this is the right thing to do." Stephanie said as she walked over to Virgil and grabbed his hand.
She had tears in her eyes and Virgil reached over to wipe them away. He missed though as Zeke handed her a handkerchief.
"We're not going to leave you Stephanie." Zeke said softly.
Virgil wanted to smile at the same time he wanted to pummel the guy. He was encroaching on his territory, but then again, Virgil had asked him to. He was just doing what he said he would do. For a moment Virgil wondered if maybe Zeke and Stephanie might make it together.
"Okay, this doesn't look like its working." Charlie said in alarm. "In fact, I think we'd better get out of here."
The panic started to set in and Virgil watched as Charlie grabbed Jeanette's hand and pulled her out of the room. He also saw Zeke grab for Stephanie and the two of them leave the room too.
Time seemed to stand still and Virgil wasn't able to move. The lights started to flash in front of him, just like the machine had done dozens of times, only this time, he was in the event horizon and it was going to consume him.
The last thing he heard was someone shouting his name, then nothing.
/GG/
Virgil slowly opened his eyes.
"What day is it?" He asked.
That was followed by Zeke shouting, "That is it! No more time travel!"
Wait, what was going on? Didn't…
Virgil looked up and saw that all three of them were sitting in the grass on the field of the school. All of them in their suits.
He didn't even pay attention as Charlie spoke with the PE teacher, he was too lost in what had just happened. Hadn't he…..? Maybe it didn't….? Was it all a dream? He didn't know. It felt real, but so did Zeke as his friend helped him off the ground since he wasn't moving as the coach told them to start moving.
All of those people he had met and spent time with were no more and he was back where he belonged. It was a surreal feeling. Had he been given a glimpse of what could have happened? Or was it just his imagination?
