A/N: Good evening, and welcome back to Mother's Day
P.S: I am fresh out of ideas at the moment unless you guys have any that you want to see.
Chapter is based off of Jay Loftus' song Time Travler.
Odd guests were quiet common in the Peabody house hold, often ranging from famous historical figures, the president, social service workers, the neighbor from downstairs, and even an alien or two (Okay, so maybe that was just a fever dream of Sherman's, but to him it still happened). Regardless, odd guests were still common, so Peabody was not at all surprised to find a rather strange and yet also familiar woman in the living room of his home, dangling her spare keys in front of her own face. She looked rather excited to see Peabody and Ursula, waving her free hand as she rushed over to them.
"Um, hello, Patty." The albino greeted, extending his hand to the woman so that she could shake his hand, only to be pulled into a death grip of a hug.
"Hello you two! I'm sorry I couldn't get here earlier, but you know how things at the office can be an-." The woman was cut off quickly, though she was still smiling a wide grin at Peabody.
"Yes, anyhow... How did you get into my-" Peabody was shut off by the bouncing blonde, who seemed to be on the edge of her heels with excitement.
"I was coming over here to do an interview." She smiled widely after cutting him off.
"An interview? What for?" Ursula squeaked curiously, quickly crossing over to her male friend and frowning softly.
"Just an interview of you two. What your home life is like usually and the WABAC, and what not." The woman shrugged simply.
"The WABAC- Right! Your time machine." Ursula gasped, watching as the woman went about, taking out her bag and placing it on her lap and attempting to take out a pad of paper and a pencil, only to accidentally send the contents of her bag flying with a sudden tug.
"Oh my! You should really be more careful when-" Peabody began a lecture, standing up and collecting whatever had fallen, only to cut himself off when he saw exactly what the contents of her bag had been. "Patty, I know you're just trying to help... But even this is going to far."
Several stacks of paper had fallen out of the bag, ranging from adoption papers, marriage lisenses, offical rule books of different situations, including the same rule book of the Hard Rock Orphanage that Peabody had on his desk. Frowning, he bent and picked them up and then handed them back to the woman with a look that read 'care to explain?'
"Well..."
"Let me guess, this is all your 'back-up plan' for me?" Peabody sighed, gently handing back the papers she had misplaced.
"Um... Yeah... They're just papers I got at the library though, just for you two to look through and talk about-" She was cut off yet again by Peabody waving his hand.
"Patty, Ursula and I have already discussed things, and we already have our own plan for getting Sherman back that does not involve any of this." He frowned at the lie, but still found himself pointing to the pictures. "What did you intend to do with these anyhow?"
"Well, I was going through the Hard Rock rule book and reviewed Grunion's case over you and I found that there are a few loop holes that if exposed properly should turn things in your favor." Patty explained, tucking away the papers.
"And this 'interview' was just an excuse to show them to me?" Peabody asked sternly, "Or are you attempting to make yourself a witness?"
"Yes and no," She began, honestly. "Yes it was an attempt to pitch new ideas, but it-."
"Patty." He said calmly, folding one arm over the other. "Its been a very long day already. Can we just have our lunch and talk about this later?"
"Oh... Sure, what are you two doing for lunch?" Patty asked curiously, watching as Ursula adjusted her child on her hip slowly.
"Um... Not really sure." Ursula admitted, turning to her friend suddenly. "We were just going to have sandwhiches and what not."
A tense silence suddenly fell between the four, filled only by the sound of cars passing under the window on the street. A thick atmosphere hung, though it had been there all this time and the group chose just now to acknowledge its presence. Everyone knew what had happened in that penthouse, and it left the lingering feeling of dread in its memory. No one, especially the two single parents, wanted to be there but they were there now and would feel odd just suddenly taking their leave. Sensing this, Patty was quick to jump in with a sudden idea.
"You two need a break from all this, like a vacation." She chimed, trying to keep the mood bright.
"What!?" Peabody's eyes widened as he turned to the woman quickly. "Have you gone mad? At a time like this-"
"In the WABAC, silly. Come on, surely you can give this just a tiny break-" She was cut off suddenly.
"I am a single father with a pending court case, my son is put before all other things." He said, wagging a finger at the woman scornfully. "And I'm sure Ursula agrees with me that a vacation would be a-"
"Great idea." Ursula cut in suddenly, handing the baby over to Peabody for the time being. "Espeically in the WABAC."
"Ursa, don't encourage her." Peabody mumbled, shaking his head slowly as he held the baby a little closer to himself. "We have the baby to care for right now. I don't think that she would enjoy it."
"But Sherman tells me that you used to take him all the time when he was a baby." Patty said, packing up her things quickly. "It might be fun."
With that, she began taking quick steps towards the front door, quickly disappearing out of it while seemingly being satisfied with whatever it was she did before leaving. Frowning in confusion, Peabody turned to Ursula once more, looking first at the woman's bright smile and then into her soft grey eyes. They were filled with a certain sadness and stress that he was quite familiar with, as it was the same that he was currently feeling as well over things. Patty was right. A break from all of this madness would be good for them, and perhaps one trip wouldn't do any harm.
"Ursula, if you really want to go, then I will take you." He said finally, sighing heavily as he did so. "Just this once."
In an instant, the look in the woman's eyes flashed to one of joy and relief, her thin hands suddenly grasping Peabody's free wrist as a silent way of asking for him to lead the way. Continuing on with the silence, the man lead her to the elevator that the apartment had and pushed the button. His pulse was rising into a range that the woman could feel its change as the elevator doors parted a reviled a spotless carrying cart that had been scrubbed just a few days earlier when Sherman had first been injured.
'It feels like its still there...' Peabody thought as he entered into the cart with his friend, reaching up a shaky hand and pushing the button that would take them down to the WABAC.
Every so often he would take a quick glance at the blonde woman and child beside him. At the moment, they were all he had left and he felt his heart rate increase at the thought of loosing them the same way he did with Sherman. Taking a deep breath, the elevator doors opened, reviling the bright red time machine just a yard away from them. Taking a deep breath, and trying to push the thoughts of blood away from his mind, the inventor stepped out of the elevator and lead his friends down the walk way towards the orb.
"We don't have to go in if you don't want us to." Ursula spoke up, noting her friend's worried look and feeling a touch bad for being the cause of it.
"No. Ursula if I let fear stop me from going now then I'll never go again." Peabody replied, stepping in front of the WABAC and watching as the hatch opened and the stairs formed from it. "Now you can come with me or no. That choice is yours."
"I'm going with you." She said sternly, gently walking passed him and entering into the orb. "So, where are we going?"
"Not where, Ursa. When." He corrected her, following her inside just as the hatch closed behind him.
"Anywhere as long as its not now." She replied, taking a seat nearby as Peabody went to the main control panel and began to hit a few buttons.
"Lucky for you, I have just the feature for that." He replied, just as a button labled SHUFFLE popped up.
"You have a shuffle button for your time machine?" Ursula asked, sounding very unimpressed as she watched her friend ready his hand above the button.
"Are you ready?" He asked, waiting for her que.
"Go for it." With that, the button was pressed and the time machine was pushed by an invisible force into the swirling blue vortex that was time.
The orb seemed to work on its own, taking its own dives and moving in random directions as it seemed to search for a random place that it wanted to go. Ursula's eyes widened and dilated at certain moments as her mouth hung open in pure amazement, her mind trying to take in everything at once as Peabody stood beside her and watched with less amazement as they zipped through the time vortex. Then a bright light suddenly exploded directly in front of them, quickly turning black and consuming the orb as it was sucked in to a random time, and then quickly spitting them back out into an ink black sky as the rest of the land soon began to take shape.
"Where are we?" Ursula asked, only then to quickly correct herself. "I mean, when?"
"August 24, 79 AD. The day Mount Vesuvius erupted." Peabody muttered, landing their craft just outside of the first major village.
From where they were, fire danced overheard, which their sources just out of their view. The ground around them was already coated by a thick layer of ash that rained from the sky like a toxic rain as people ran around in an panic, trying in a desperate attempt to get away from the volcano. From inside the WABAC, Ursula gave Peabody a paniced look and grabbed his arm suddenly.
"We have to get out of here then." She breathed quickly, turning her eyes quickly back to the ash covered windows and finally taking notice of the shaking under them.
"We have a while before the volcano's eruption kills us..." Peabody corrected her, sounding a bit dazed as he looked down at the screaming people and taking in a deep breath as he turned to face Ursula. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you or the baby while you're here... Theres just something I want to see here first."
Ursula watched with both amazement and disbelief as a baby cradle suddenly appeared beside Peabody and Zorra was lowered in. After this, the main hatch of the WABAC opened and the inventor rushed outside into the madness, kicking up ash as he ran from the craft. Watching in pure amazment, Ursula covered her ears as the screams of the people sounded near her and she felt herself instantly transported back to History class as a student, remembering the screams that the movies and educational videos had made her believe were those of panic. No, they were nothing like this, the true terror and panic heard in these voices and knowing that she could do something to help was just maddening. This was real and she soon found herself rushing out of the machine and after her friend.
"Hes gone mad... Hes completely insane." She muttered as she ran, wiping flecks of hot ash away from her face as she rushed further into the area they had come to, feeling the heat rise as she move in.
Looking around, she felt panic rising within her when she found that her friend had completely vanished into the crowd of people and that she could not see him in this mess at all. People ran around her, screaming things that she did not understand and pushing passed her. Despite her annoyance, she voyaged on, looking around for her friend but keeping her mouth shut to keep the ash from entering her throat. The air was getting thicker now as the town turned a hellish color as flames seemed to leap out of nowhere. Feeling herself choked for air, Ursula stopped and put both hands over her nose in an attempt to filter the air she was going to use to attempt to catch her breath.
"Where is he...?" She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and taking a few moments, her thoughts quickly turning to that of her beloved friend possibly being dead in all of this mess. "If I could save one person today... Please make it be him..."
It was a few moments to many, however, as she soon felt herself being painfully shoved to the side, loosing her balance as she tumbled down to the ash covered ground below her. Her hands flew away from her nose, and she soon found herself gagging on the thick black ash that now flecked the inside of her nose and mouth. Snapping her eyes shut again, she let out several painful coughs and curled up on herself to prevent anyone from stepping on her. Suddenly her eyes snapped opened as she felt heat and pain on her left arm. Looking just in front of her, she saw fire dance around in front of her, taking just a moment to realize that the flames were spreading up her shirt, burning away the material and at the skin on her arm.
"Geez!" She gasped as she pulled her arm away, finding that the ground was too hot now to stop the flames from spreading up her arm.
Instead she smacked her arm hard with her free hand, attempting to put out some of the flames and much to her relief she found that they were quickly dying down. Taking in a few 'calming' breaths, Ursula turned to look for Peabody again, only to find a new horror awaiting her. A thick blanket of ash flying over head, like a great wave that one might see during a storm at sea. It blocked out most of the sky, and it was close. Half of her mind was frozen in fear, while the other half urged her to run back to the WABAC before the wave broke. She couldn't do either, as she was soon grabbed by someone she couldn't see and snapped her eyes shut to await her end.
An unfamiliar sound rang out loud in her ears and heat surrounded her body. What felt to be thousands of little bugs ran about her skin and in her ears and she could only assume that the wave like cloud had broken over them. She felt a hot but fuzzy substance fall over her body, preventing her from breathing as it covered her face. She barely registered that she was being moved until her back suddenly hit something hard and cool hands were placed over her face to get the ash away from her.
"Ursa!" Peabody's voice came through her ears in a muffled wave as her face was cleared completely.
Sitting up suddenly, she forced her eyes opened and barely registered that it was her own body that she was looking down at, as it was completely black with ash. From beside her, Peaody was furiously wiping her skin clean, stopping only once when he found the burns under the ash of her left arm. He wasn't in better shape than she was, the Albino was completely stained, but the two were back in the WABAC now and were travling away from Pompeii now. Feeling a sudden relief wash over her, the young woman lept at him and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, only to push herself back and slap him across the face.
"Idiot! What were you thinking!?" She gasped, taking her friend's messy face in her hands and wiping what ever ash she could from him. "You could have been killed!"
"Oh thank God..." He muttered when he saw that Ursula really was alright, wrapping his own arms around her and bringing her in close.
"Hey! Answer me." She pouted, shoving at him lightly. "What were you going to see out there?"
He suddenly went very quiet, reaching out a hand simply and running it through Ursula's hair for a moment, speaking only when he found a golden strand among the ash covered locks and tugging lightly at it before speaking.
"I wanted to see... If I could save just one person during the eruption..." He admitted, looking down at Ursula's ash covered clothes and frowning softly at them. "After what happened to Sherman, I-"
"You were trying to redeem yourself." Ursula muttered, looking down at her ownself and frowning softly.
"Yes... But I left before doing so..." He paused and looked quickly to where they had left the baby. "I left the moment I saw that you were in danger..."
Ursula frowned and gently laced her hands into her friend's hands and held them gently. What he did was crazy and stupid, but she understood where he was coming from and wouldn't hold it against him... For now, that is. Gently pressing her forehead to his, she took a deep breath and released it quickly, wondering why he still seemed so upset and she waited for him to speak.
"All those people..." He muttered in almost disbelief. "Do you realize what we could have done to help them, Ursa?"
"Yes... But you did save one today." Ursula reminded him, looking up at him as best she could while still keeping their foreheads pressed.
"Is that so...?" He sounded as if he hadn't noticed, which he probably hadn't until now.
"Yeah... Me, stupid." She smiled softly, tightening her grip on his hands as they both looking up at each other for a moment.
The pair spent a moment taking the other in, their rapidly beating hearts soon settling when they fully began to realize that they were both okay. Ursula looked away from a moment, just to shut her eyes and blink away the ash that was still stuck to her eyelashes. Peabody took this time to look her over once more, fully realizing just how lucky he was that she had gotten out alive with him. At this point loosing her was not a choice, as she had been there for far to many things including this to leave now. Pulling her close again, he kissed her lightly, an action now reserved for her as her position in his life was cemented once more.