NINE


Flynn stumbled from the Mothership, covered a few meters before he fell to his knees. His head pounded with explosive throbs, provoked nausea to the point of collapsing from the tremendous discomfort.

"What the hell?" Richard screamed from behind. "You know staying longer than twenty-four hours can and will eventually kill you. No man, no human can survive that amount of agony and pain. The pressure from the colliding timelines alone will obliterate you from existence. And the closer you get to the original, the more strain you'll undergo, the less the time will be."

"You said." Flynn began through gritted teeth. He crawled forward on all fours. "You said."

"I said what!" The scientist shrieked after him. "What did I say? I explicitly told you to watch the time. In and out! It's that simple. Dammit, even a gorilla can understand such a simple task. But no, I got you. I got you for heaven's sake."

"They were there." Flynn barely managed. "Both of 'em."

"What the hell are you on about?"

Richard came from behind and shoved him off-balance. He fell onto his back, holding his face with both hands. His body felt like it was dying from within. Angst and anxiety sped up his heartbeat. The air suddenly thin, as his breathing became laboured.

"Who?"

Flynn yelled out in panic.

"Get them down here. STAT!" The scientist demanded over the radio, then gazed down at the panicking spy. "Who did you see, Garcia?" He pressed again in a low, drawn-out snarl. "Who. Did. You. See?"

A prettified shout reverberated throughout the warehouse.

The double doors whooshed open.

Richard threw his hands up in frustration. "Ugh, just get him up. And get him where he needs to go. Let's see what the hissy fit's all about."

The two burly men did as instructed and dragged Flynn from the room, straight for reconditioning five floors below the warehouse. In the whitewashed room, they laid him down on the cot, then walked away.

Opening his eyes, the spy looked about the empty space. A shock trembled over his frame, gooseflesh kissed his skin, ran along with the tremble in his muscles.

Again something was amiss; couldn't pin it down. Chaos reigned and so did a blur of clashing memories, some of which didn't belong to him while others proposed various futures he knew for a fact wasn't his.

"Or perhaps you want something to be amiss." Her voice sounded low but sweet and tender. "Seeking it, you will find. Wanting it to happen will make it happen. Only you can stop this insane plan, Flynn."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. A tear ran down his cheek. The emotions were too much to handle, too much to get in line.

"Nah, nah, nah, my friend, Garcia. My dear, old friend, Flynn will not and I stress the not, he will not, under any circumstances . . . stop. Protocol stipulates, that under duress a soldier's to rely upon his or her training, at all times. Time after time, line upon line, precept upon precept."

"Slow and steady wins the race?"

"Yes, my dearest Lucy." His counterpart smiled sweetly at her. She received it openly with a cheeky smirk.

"Stop!" Flynn yelled out desperately. A sob rang out. "Stop!"

"We haven't done anything yet." Richard said from the other side of the mirror.

"When you fall, I will catch you." Garcia directed at Lucy.

"Yes. A promise."

"No!" Flynn screamed at them.

"Don't make me sedate you, Garcia!" The scientist warned.

Lucy stood before the two-way mirror, dressed in a delicate, colourful summer dress. His counterpart crossed his arms, causing the black shirt to stretch over his muscled shoulders and back.

"He's bossy."

"Sure is."

"One more minute and you'll forget this ever happened."

Flynn squeezed his tall frame into a tight ball. He snarled with deep-seated pain, an aching crescendo which ended in a high pitch. Exhaustion threatened to claim him for many more hours of dreadful nightmares, the last thing he wanted or needed. What he wanted he could not have, nor would peace and rest be a well-earned reward for his weary mind and body.

"Why?"

"I have no idea, Lucy. But I always did enjoy torturing myself."

"That you did." She agreed playfully. "I didn't."

Garcia snorted. "Yes, you did. Be truthful. You didn't enjoy seeing me this way. You did, however, succumb to your own little torture sessions. All the good, bad and ugly you saw on missions. Why put yourself through the same misery at every closed time loop."

"It's the darn loop." Flynn whispered. "Where?"

"What?" Richard's voice boomed through the intercom. "You say something?"

"He definitely did." Lucy said at the mirror.

"Shh, quiet, Lu, you don't want the big bad scientist knowing what we know."

"He's figured it out." She waved at Flynn painfully aware of his slipup.

"Yeah, still, we don't want to be planting any silly ideas in his mind."

"Well, it's too late for that, now is it?"

"I suppose so."

"Stop it! Just stop it!"

"Shout at me one more time, and I'll put your sorry ass in isolation. No light. Remember, Garcia? Only darkness."

"Are you gonna take this bullshit to the forehead?"

"Shame, he's in real pain."

The couple stood on each side of the cot, staring down at him, one with compassion and another daringly.

"No strength." Flynn murmured through spasms. "Tired."

"The man's lost his mind, sweetheart. He can't discern reality any longer."

"Still, he knows we're not really here."

"Of course. Richard's lack of response is the obvious tell-tale. Out in the field though, he can't distinguish what's the real us from the fake us."

Initiating eye contact, first with Garcia and then with Lucy, Flynn winced.

"Aw, he's hurting."

"Profoundly so. We can't help him."

"He needs to find a way out of the maze by himself."

The couple's appearance flickered once, twice and then they were gone. His mind cleared. Body relaxed.

"There ya go. All done and ready for the next impartation."

Although exhausted, Flynn sat upright and breathed through the faint muscles spasms cramping in his legs. Overall he felt like jelly, ignorant to the internal fight he underwent since before his return.

"Now." Richard began. "What's the fuss? Who did you see? 'Cause I sure didn't see anything but a successful mission. Nice going, pal."

"I completed the mission?"

"One heck of a shot. Two birds."

"One bullet."

"See, got your eggs in one basket."

"Who did I see?"

"No clue. I found no memory of any secondaries. Only the shooting."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand. Just keep on doing what we expect you to do and everything will work as planned."

Flynn looked over his shoulder, knowing the man hid behind the mirror for a reason and smirked wickedly. "Then why do I detect apprehension and frustration in your voice? Don't tell me you believe my insane observation?"

"One can never be too careful. You were gone far past your time limit."

"Impossible."

"It happened. And I made sure it will not happen again."

Standing, Flynn came about and walked for the mirror. His eyes narrowed, piercing whatever fortitude he imagined the scientist cowered behind.

"Puppies you train well, to avoid misfortunes in the future. So that you avoid old dogs which need to be taught good manners and new tricks. But sadly for you, Richard, you fail to realize you got a wolf in its place."

Retracting his fist, he knocked it hard against the mirror's surface.

It cracked like a rock hitting water, splayed in differing directions exposing its quick loss in integrity. Richard retreated on impact, with hand hovering above the red button on the console beside him.

"No one can be trusted." Flynn cautioned and walked away.