Chapter 14

I smiled as Kisa, Alex's cat, jumped into my lap and started purring. Going with our plan, I was staying over at his place so we could get our uncle/niece dynamic down. We had to put nearly 18 years worth of fake memories together to make sure it was believable.

"So," Alex began, sitting in the oversized leather chair across from where I was sitting on the couch, "what do we have so far?"

Still smiling because of the cat in my lap, I tilted my head to one side and thought about it for a few minutes. "Uh…other than you being my favorite uncle, not a whole lot."

Alex gave a small laugh and fell silent for a few minutes, just watching Kisa and I. After a few moments, he shook his head in disbelief. "It's like you know her."

"Actually, I really have never met Kisa before. You've just told me a lot about her." Glancing up to catch a weird look from Alex, I added quickly, "I-in the future, of course."

Alex's expression changed nearly as quickly as I had spoken, but now it was one of uncertainty. "That's the one thing I can't wrap my head around quite. I've watched how you treat me, and how the others treat me…and you seem so comfortable with me while the others are almost hostile toward me."

Nodding, I paid a little extra attention to scratching Kisa's neck as I formulated an answer that wouldn't freak him out. "Well, their half of it is because they only see you for the virus that hurt the Resistance in the future. And for me, it's…" I trailed off, chewing on my lip and looking at the ceiling. "It's like you're family to me. At least, your future self. You were practically like an uncle to me, and you saved my life once."

Alex sat there and blinked for a few moments. "That would explain lots, then."

I chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. I've known you since I was six, so I'm sorry if I freak you out a little when I do that."

Alex smiled and shook his head. "You haven't yet, but…now I'm curious. What do you know about me?"

"Uhh, you grew up on a dairy farm in Colorado, dad passed away when you were 18, graduated from Colorado State when you were 23, and met Bridget Weber a few years later."

The look on Alex's face was priceless, but it made me wonder if he thought I was a stalker instead of someone from the future. For all he knew, Sarah, John, Derek, and I could just be suffering from a disease that made you insane and delusional. He held both arms up in surrender and said, "Wow, okay then. I don't doubt it anymore. It's just a little…"

"Weird?" I asked, smiling because Kisa was now reduced to a lump of warm, vibrating fur on my lap.

Alex nodded his head in a rapid affirmative. "Yeah, weird." He looked at me for a few more minutes, then shook his head, got up and started toward the kitchen. "I should make us something to eat, shouldn't I?" Alex picked up a knife, twirled it, and looked at me with his eyebrow raised. "Want to help?"

Glancing at the knife, and back down at Kisa, I shrugged and gently slipped the ball of fluff off my lap. "I might as well." After several moments of Alex showing me how to correctly cut some vegetables, we fell into silence. Yet again, the question that burned at the back of my mind surfaced, but I wasn't sure how to ask Alex what I wanted to without…well, offending him, or possibly screwing up the mission because of it. My brow knit together in a frown and I started glaring at the carrot I was currently chopping into pieces smaller than I should have been.

Alex laughed and nudged my shoulder playfully. "Hey, I'm pretty sure that carrot isn't going to sprout metal arms and a gun and destroy the world," he teased.

I met his gaze, his green eyes twinkling like I remembered them. Dropping the knife, I flexed my fingers and laid my hands on the counter top. "Yeah, I guess you're right. My, uh…my soldier's mind doesn't go away easily," I said quietly. Fidgeting my fingers, I tried to push the question out of my mind, but it was making it hard to concentrate. I felt like I had needed to know this vital little piece of information ever since Alex's suicide so many years ago…or before… The time travel was really starting to drive me off my rocker now.

He frowned and pressed his lips together, now looking at me in the concerned way that was so familiar. "Is there something up? You look like you need to say something."

Hanging my head slightly, I nodded and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, there is something I need to say…more like ask, really," I said, trying as hard as I could to put off asking it as long as I could.

Shooting me an expectant look, Alex set down his knife as well and leaned against the counter. "Mackenzie, whatever it is…" he trailed off.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess I just…want to know what made you do it."

"Do what?"

"Create the virus." I looked up at Alex and took a deep breath. "Why'd you do it in the first place if you knew what it could do?"

Alex heaved a sigh. "I guess it's part of human nature, that 'playing god' thing." He glanced over at me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "But as soon as you told me what its true purpose was going to serve, I lost that. I went to school to learn how to do this, and thought I was supposed to do this, when it turns out if I succeeded in it, I would only help something horrible."

I nodded, glancing back at Alex and resisted giving him a hug for only a few minutes. I couldn't help myself after that. He laughed and hugged me back briefly before I released and walked over to Kisa, flopping down on the couch again. One thing I was sure about; I was so happy to have Alex back, but did I really want to drag him into my life? The life I had now, being chased by futuristic intelligent robots? Some things never change…and I had a feeling death would follow me like it always had.

Kisa crawled onto my stomach and stretched out a paw to rest on my chin as a tear fell from the corner of my eye. Grateful that Alex couldn't see me, I went back to petting Kisa.

2023

Looking over her shoulder, Jesse saw Mackenzie's little hand waving in the air at her. Jesse had just left Mackenzie with Kat Connor so she could find Derek and straighten things out with him. Sighing, she could tell that was going to be a fun task. Derek was a stubborn SOB, and it was difficult to convince him of anything once his mind was made up.

Jesse had been so deep in figuring out how to talk to Derek about the situation that she didn't notice Kyle trying to keep up with her until she spoke. "Jesse! You in there?" he asked. It was unusual for Jesse to tune everything out like that…unless she was worried about something. "I think all that time down below with the tin cans have been getting to you," he attempted to joke. When Jesse didn't even crack a smile, he added, "You okay? Something up?"

Jesse turned around to face Kyle with a slightly confused look on her face. "What? Oh…no, everything's fine. Where's your brother?"
"Over with Timms. He's still in a bad mood, you know," Kyle said, glancing over his shoulder.

"I figured. That's what I'm going to try and fix." Jesse saw Derek over by the young Resistance fighter Kyle mentioned and took a deep breath before taking a step toward him.

"…Yeah, be safe," Derek said to Timms before the man pushed off the wall he was leaning against and left Derek behind, nearly glaring at Jesse.

"I need to talk to you," she said when she reached him. She couldn't help taking a more defensive stance than usual; her feet planted, her arms folded tightly over her chest, and her shoulders rigid and sharp.

Derek shot her a disgusted look. "You sure you can't talk to Connor about this? You seem to be pretty damn good friends with him now," he scoffed.

Jesse clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "I had no idea Connor needed my help in that situation, Derek."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. He told you to say that, didn't he?" Derek shot back, starting to walk away.

"Derek," Jesse said sharply, grabbing his arm forcefully to make him face her again, "don't you dare accuse me of keeping you out of the loop when you've done the exact same with your missions. You don't see me getting my feathers ruffled because you won't tell me about a mission I know damn well is classified, do you?" Jesse stopped herself from going any further. She looked down at the hand she had on Derek's arm and unclenched her fistful of his jacket sleeve. She heaved a sigh and let her arms fall to her sides. "Look, Derek, I'm sorry if what I did made you upset. But you know just as well as I do that Connor doesn't just go telling everyone his plans, on top of the fact that he's one of the most mysterious people behind the Resistance."

They both stood there, gazes locked for a few long moments before Derek clenched his jaw stubbornly and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, you have your point."

Jesse kept looking up at him for a few minutes, searching his face and longing to tell him what she was really doing before she pulled his face closer and kissed him. "I love you, Derek. You know this, so why fight me?" She rest her hand on his face and stared straight into his eyes, searching for an answer.

He just stared right back at Jesse for several moments and finally kissed her forehead, enclosing her in a hug.

Jesse squeezed her arms around Derek's ribcage as tightly as she could and pulled away a moment later. "I have to take care of the girl before Connor will get off my back about her. I'll see you later."

They briefly shared another kiss before Jesse turned around and weaved her way through all the Resistance soldiers. Derek only heaved another sigh and shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder at his younger brother. "That's why you need to find a nice, sweet girl. Not a headstrong one like Jesse," he told Kyle.

Kyle only laughed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

After a few more days, Alex and I became more comfortable with what we were going to do. It was basically like having the Alex I always knew back in my life, and it was great. The day before we were going to Zeira Corp, I was back at the hotel room being acquainted to the surveillance equipment John was setting me up with.

"This is great," I told John as he threaded a wire through my shirt, leading to my collar to attach a small camera there. I already had a tiny wireless microphone and speaker stuck in my ear and wires strung through my clothes. "I feel like a tin can now."

John laughed and nodded. "Sucks, huh?"

I nodded in agreement and resisted the urge to rip all the wires off, shuddering at the thought that I had to do all of this again tomorrow before Alex and I left.

Cameron had been sitting on John's bed, just waiting and watching him wire me up like a machine. She tilted her head to one side and kept watching us silently. "You know, Cameron, I never thought I'd get creeped out by someone just looking at me, but you've definitely succeeded at it," I told her, now holding me arms straight out as John just kept working.

"I freak you out," she said, not bothering to ask it, but just state it.

John and I exchanged a glance and just shared a laugh, which most likely only confused the machine sitting on his bed even more.