Chapter 10 Saturday January 5th: We Aren't Leaving

Phineas stretched as he walked out of the bathroom, then entered the room he'd been sharing with Jeff. He moved toward the spot on the floor where Jeff was asleep.

"Come on kid, rise and shine," he said as he shook Jeff's shoulder.

"Uh," Jeff groaned and turned his head away.

Bogg straightened up and stared at his back. This was the first time since they'd been traveling together that Jeff hadn't jumped out of bed immediately. He was always ready for a voyage, in fact Bogg still felt he was a little too ready sometimes, as though he was still trying not to be any trouble. But today's reaction was new.

Jeff lay facing away from Bogg, knowing that it was time to get up, but thinking only that he wouldn't tell Bogg about his raging sore throat and itchy nose. Suddenly he sneezed, then sneezed again, and again. He sat up, searching for something to wipe his drippy nose. He took the tissue box Bogg was handing him and blew his nose loudly, several times.

'Oh God, what do I do with a sick kid?' Bogg thought to himself as he handed the box of tissues to Jeff. He didn't know how to take care of Jeffrey when he was healthy, how was he supposed to know what to do now?

Jeff sat up and finished wiping his nose. "I'll be ready in a minute," he said as he carried the tissues with him on his way to the bathroom.

"Ready for what?" Bogg asked.

Jeffrey left without answering him. A few minutes later he was back.

"Ready for what?" Bogg asked again when he returned.

"Huh?" Jeff answered putting his finger in his left ear and pulling downward.

Bogg shook his head and spoke louder, "what are you getting ready for?"

"Ready to fix history, what else," Jeff answered, his ears squeaking terribly when he spoke.

Bogg watched him as he again sneezed three times in a row and stuffed a tissue against his nose.

"You can't voyage like this."

"I can, really... once we get started I'll be fine," Jeff answered quickly.

"No way."

"Bogg, you need me, you know you don't know history, please don't leave me here," Jeff pleaded and sneezed again and reached for another tissue. While he was wiping his nose he coughed.

Phineas stared at the kid, suddenly realizing that he had misunderstood the situation. The kid thought he was going to leave him here and voyage without him. He still didn't quite believe that Phineas would take care of him. It seemed odd to Phineas too, but there it was.

This was another complication Phineas hadn't thought of. If he didn't move through the cosmos, his tracker at headquarters would know something was up. He could hide Jeff's presence with him for awhile, but not forever. Eventually they'd catch up with him, and then he'd be in real trouble, not only for voyaging with a civilian, but for concealing it for so long.

Jeff sneezed again, as if to punctuate his thoughts.

Well, he couldn't let the kid omni out with such a bad cold, and he couldn't leave him and come back because his omni kept getting stuck in the automatic mode. He couldn't be sure it would bring him back. No matter what happened, he couldn't risk leaving Jeffrey somewhere alone. So, what headquarters might do didn't really matter. Circumstances had intervened once again and he had no choice.

"Kid, we're both staying here until you're well enough to travel... and no arguments," he said decisively, though dreading the consequences.

Jeff had sat down on the bed and was pulling a sneaker on. Now, he turned toward Bogg, "really?" he whispered hoarsely, then paused for a second before dropping the shoe and laying back down on the bed. He lay on his side, facing out into the room. "Are you sick?" he asked and sneezed again.

"No, you probably caught it in school. I feel fine." As he spoke, Phineas poured a cup of water, "here," he said holding it out toward the boy.

Jeff took it reluctantly. He didn't feel like swallowing anything, but he was afraid not to do as Bogg asked. He took a sip, his throat burned and his ears squeaked as he swallowed, "uh," he groaned. As he handed the cup back, he closed his eyes. He hoped Bogg wasn't too angry with him for being sick. Suddenly he felt the covers being pulled up and tucked around him, "thanks," he whispered without opening his eyes.

Phineas stared at him thinking, then walked to the door and downstairs.

"Morning Phineas, where's Jeffrey?" Maryann asked as he entered the kitchen.

"He's got a pretty bad cold, he's still in bed," he answered, noticing that she had smiled at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Her expression softened as she turned toward the window and stared out at the swing.

"Is there anywhere I can buy some soup?" Phineas asked her.

She turned to him, "I'll start some chicken soup right now, he can have that when it's ready."

"I know that's not part of us staying here."

"Don't worry about that," she interrupted him. "You just see to him, and I'll see to the soup. Here, don't go out for breakfast, have this," and she put the plate she'd been preparing for herself in front of him.

He stared at her and smiled, "thank you," and began to eat.

After he finished, he watched her preparing the chicken for the soup. "Is there anything I can do for you, upstairs, so I can keep an eye on him?"

She looked up, it was nice having a man around the house, and something made her trust him. "The other bedroom needs some work. The hinges are so stiff that the closet door won't close, and it needs to be emptied out and painted. I can't rent it out like that."

He paused, this was what Gladys had hoped would happen, that having them there would help her to move on. "I'll work on it."

She nodded and was humming to herself when he walked back through the kitchen with some tools.

He checked in on Jeffrey before beginning the work. He was asleep. As Phineas put his hand hesitantly on Jeff's forehead, he felt that same warm feeling inside his own chest that he'd experience before. He stood still, considering this strange, new feeling once again. This wasn't partnership, and it was different from friendship, he knew what they felt like, could it be how a parent felt about their child? The thought shocked him and he quickly pushed it out of his mind. "Couldn't be," he whispered, then he pushed the dark curls back off Jeffrey's forehead to better feel for a fever. He felt a bit warm, but slept peacefully, so Phineas got to work.

He first moved some of the contents of the room next door into the hallway. It was full of old furniture and had obviously been used as a storage room. Then he opened the closet door and examined the hinges. He checked on Jeffrey every hour or so.

After he'd been working all morning, he glanced up at a sound in the doorway. Jeff stood there, watching him work.

"Feeling better?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Jeff's hoarse voice answered.

"I think there's some chicken soup ready," Phineas told him, straightening up and smiling. "Let's go see."

They walked downstairs.

Maryann greeted them with a smile. "You just set down right there and I'll get you a bowl of my famous chicken soup," she said upon seeing Jeff.

Jeff sat at the small kitchen table and smiled at her, not wanting to talk. He swallowed and made a face.

"Hurt to swallow?" Bogg asked and Jeff nodded.

Jeff swallowed the first spoonful painfully and paused, then continued. He seemed to feel the healing power of the soup in every swallow, and by the time he was done, his throat didn't seem to hurt so badly.

They had lunch together, and Bogg thought that the smell of the chicken soup made the kitchen seem very homey. "You know, if you do rent the room out, you could offer breakfast to the border, or breakfast and lunch. Just keep that smell of chicken soup coming from the kitchen and anyone you show the room to will want to stay."

"Well, in my day I was known for my cooking," Maryann answered.

"I bet you could find a lot of people who'd want to stay here," Phineas persisted.

"Well, it's something to think about."

"This soup IS good," Jeff said and his voice sounded better.

"Want some more?" Maryann offered.

Jeff's bowl was empty, but he shook his head. "I think I'll just go upstairs and read."

So the rest of the day was quiet. Jeff started reading another book, and when Phineas checked him again an hour later he'd fallen back to sleep. He lifted the book off Jeff's stomach and slipped a strip of paper in as a bookmark.

Several hours later, Jeff woke up and gave a long stretch before he got up and went searching for Bogg. He didn't have to look very far, his new partner was in the next bedroom painting the walls. He settled into an overstuffed chair that had been moved into the hall, where he could watch Phineas as he worked.

ooOoo

That evening, as Phineas sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the covers up over his shoulders, Jeff decided to ask a question.

"Hey Bogg?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me something about Voyagers?" Jeff asked.

Phineas answered in a tone that showed his surprise, "what do you wanna know?"

"I don't know, you're the only Voyager I know, there must be others, right?"

"Yeah."

"How many?"

"I don't know kid."

"You told me you went to school for it, how many were in your class?" Jeff asked.

"Twenty three," Phineas answered uncomfortably. This was sensitive territory. He wasn't supposed to be sharing this information with anyone. On the other hand, Jeff wasn't just anyone. He felt confused, just like he did with every aspect of Jeff's presence in his life.

"And you had a teacher?"

"Uh huh."

"More than one?"

"Yeah."

"How many?"

"Okay, I had seven teachers, and yes there are more than a few Voyagers," Phineas answered, finally giving up. He was in so deep now, what was one more rule broken.

"More than a hundred?"

He paused, "I'm not sure, probably, yes, can't we change the subject?"

"Okay, how about rules? You must have rules, Bogg."

Phineas Bogg sighed and thought of one of the first things he'd ever said to Jeffrey, 'smart kids give me a pain', but the truth was, this one didn't. "We follow the Voyager Code. We're sworn to protect the integrity of the past, present and future."

"But there are some things you can't do, right?" Jeff asked.

"We have to solve the red lights in the time stream so history stays on track, kid, I told you that the day we met."

Silence.

"I'm not in my own time," Jeff whispered, and Phineas could tell he was upset. He had somehow pieced it together.

The kid was just too smart. "I know."

"You're violating the Code by keeping me, aren't you?" Jeff said quietly.

"Look, I told you once and I'll say it again, having you with me just feels right. I don't know why, but it's the right thing to do."

"Losing your Guidebook is a huge problem too, isn't it?"

Again, the kid was right on target, "well, there's nothing I can do about that. I can't get back to 1982."

Jeff sat up and crawled into Bogg's arms, "what's gonna happen to me when they find out?"

Phineas Bogg answered quickly and with more certainty than he'd ever felt in his entire life. "Whatever happens, I'll stay with you," he said, and he meant it. Suddenly, it seemed so simple. If headquarters put Jeff back into the time stream, he'd go back to New York, too. He was sure he could get to 1982 with the help of another Voyager. He supposed it was possible they might just let him go, but most likely, they would try to track him down, but he could disappear there, if he had to. He'd see the kid as often as he could, and somehow become his friend. It hurt him to think that Jeff's memories of him would be wiped away, but he was sure he could figure out a way to get close to him and become good friends again. Maybe he could eventually convince his aunt to let Jeff live with him, at least until he grew up. It was a crazy thought, but in that moment, as he tried to comfort this child, he was convinced it was possible, that he could somehow make it work. One thing he knew was that Jeffrey deserved to be cared for by a loving adult, and his aunt wasn't that person, he was.

"You will?" Jeff whispered and looked up at him.

"I promise," Bogg told him, and then gave him a big hug. "You need to stop worrying about this and trust me. And get some sleep."

Jeff settled back down into the bed and coughed several times. "Okay."

Bogg smiled and moved off the bed to the blanket on the floor, "g'night."

"Night," Jeff answered and he felt so tired that indeed, he was soon asleep.