TEN


The familiar golden elevator opened before him, with a short figure shoving a pistol against his forehead and pushed him back, while another weapon collided against the back of his head. Pinned between foe and foe, Flynn snarled under his breath.

"What the shit is going on?"

"Destiny."

"We agreed he has no destiny." Lucy admonished.

"How about you both go back to where you came from. Or better yet – go to the deepest, darkest cesspool you can find and crawl back into it."

"Now, now, Flynn, we are a part of you, why the separation effort?"

"None of you exist. Dead! Gone with the wind! Pushing up daisies! I saw it. I did it. You are not real. Get out of my way." He barked at Lucy standing before him smirking uncannily.

"Now, that is no way to talk to the love of your life."

Flynn scoffed loudly, irritated by his counterpart's attempted ruse. He shoved back, knocking the man off-balance, ripped Lucy's pistol from her grip, stepped away from the faltering couple and directed the gun at her, then aimed it at Garcia.

"How many times are we gonna play these idiotic mind games before you realize it's a bust?"

"We're not the ones trapped on the same level."

"What?"

"You've been around this bend a couple of times."

"No." He denied fervently.

"I'm afraid so, Flynn."

"No."

"Saying it won't make this go away."

"It's impossible."

"Now you're simply stating it differently."

"I haven't been here. You're mistaken."

"One." Garcia uncurled an index finger.

"Shot us with one perfectly timed bullet." Lucy replied.

Garcia flicked his middle finger. "Two."

"I stabbed you."

"Three." He wiggled his thumb.

"Missed the optune moment."

"Four."

"We shared a momentary yet very insightful discussion about the future."

"Five."

"We followed you home."

"Six."

"You shot us, one bullet each, from this very building."

"Seven."

Lucy frowned at his counterpart, her forehead crinkling with confusion. "There is no seven, darling."

"Oh yes. Still needs to happen."

"What needs to happen?" Flynn asked annoyed, then primed the weapon on her and queried more forcefully. "What needs to happen?"

"That." Garcia pointed out.

Flynn scowled his puzzlement before he felt the liquid running from his nose. He wiped at it with the back of his hand. It was bloody and dark. A shriek, shrill pain slithered all the way from the nape of his neck over to his forehead and lodged at his temples. His head pounded in his ears. It became heavy like an oil tanker and then pressurized, close to popping like a lid off a glass bottle. He felt light-headed.

"We should." Lucy canted her head at Flynn who struggled to keep himself from toppling. She hailed the elevator.

"Yes we probably should."

Garcia stabilized his left side whilst she stabilized his right side. Together they hauled him into the contraption.

All went dark.


"You completed the mission. They're dead, both of them."

"It's the same mission!"

"No, you took them out on the way over to some blues gathering."

"From an empty apartment?"

"From a hill. Garcia, focus on the present. It doesn't matter when or where, as long as you finish your objective."

"I'm trying to understand why I keep ending up at the same apartment, having gunned them down on those damn steps."

"You don't need to understand. Just do what's expected and everything will work out as planned."

Flynn looked over his shoulder, knowing the man hid behind the mirror, and frowned. The wording seemed familiar and so did this precise moment. "Then why do I detect apprehension and frustration in your voice? Don't tell me you believe my insane prying?"

"You arrived here far past your time limit. Your nose was bloody. You coughed up blood."

"Impossible."

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

Flynn came about and walked for the mirror. His eyes narrowed, piercing whatever shield he imagined the scientist cowered behind. Retracting his fist, he knocked it hard against the mirror's surface. It cracked, splaying in differing directions exposing its weak point. Richard retreated on impact, with hand hovering above the red button on the console.

"A bloodhound can trace the finest of scents. Can detect a hare miles away. Don't think you're invulnerable. Look at what a well-placed strike can do to a pristine surface. I will find the anomaly. I will break this spell."

"There is no spell, Garcia. Your mind's the only trickster, the only deception preventing you from acknowledging the truth. You are at the primary's doorstep. Five more knocks and you're there."

"No one can be trusted." Flynn warned and walked for the door.


He stroked his forehead with the pistol before dropping it to his side. "Richard was convinced his method of time traveling surpassed the rules and boundaries held in place by physics. And Emma, she wanted another crack at fulfilling her true role as a Rittenhouse spy. Even if it meant forming an alliance with the enemy."

"Do you see, Flynn? I've given you the opportunity to dig deep, to try and remember who the real enemy is. I'm trying-"

"And failing to get your message across, Lucy, because you don't really know what it is I'm doing. Is not saving lives, but taking them for the sake of restoring time and space back to its original state."

"It doesn't make sense, Flynn. None of it does. You don't just agree-"

Flynn shook his head, not believing her reasoning.

"You can't keep doing this. The more you kill, the more aware we become of our destinies. The more aware you become of this loop you can't seem to break. You no longer can distinguish illusion from reality."

"And are you real, Lucy? This version of you, are you real? Is this apartment real? Those replicas I shot, were they real, too? Or is everything I touch . . . illusionary? A means for my mind to fill the gaps stolen by my so-called friends?"

He poised his pistol and walked for her. She didn't flinch or move or try to reason. She allowed him to place it against her shoulder, barely moved by the surprise on his face when he backed away.

"You're here?"

"And you are not?"

"Don't. Be frank."

"You were always the heart on the sleeve type of man. I was just forced to adjust as we went along."

"Forced? You were forced? Darling you have no idea what forced is."

"Let me guess." Lucy smirked. "I'm looking at it."

She stepped forward, positioning a hand upon each shoulder. He frowned, too puzzled to decipher what she wanted or stood here for, trying to convince a mad man from being anything other than insane.

"What's your purpose?" He asked under his breath.

"My prerogative?"

"Your aim, goal, objective. To provoke so much pain and confusion, it will finally deter me from doing what I think is right and true to soothe my heartache and pain?"

"How can I? If I already know I am the reason for everything you hold dear and have lost. If only I'd allowed you to kill that innocent boy."

"He wasn't innocent. He was just as culpable as his father was. That night, everything could've changed. But you, you stopped me. I could have ended this. Rittenhouse would be buried and lost with the ages." Flynn shoved her away and gestured at her. "My family would've been alive right now if it weren't for your meddling. You are the reason I am who I am."

"You are still at fault, Garcia." She rebuked.

"No, I am realistic. And you are the one who keeps interfering. You are there at the beginning. You are there at the end. I can't get rid of you, Lucy. You are everywhere I go and in everything I do. An intoxicating drug my mind and heart can't shake loose. Even dead and buried, you haunt my dreams."

"So these senseless assassinations – it's the only way you can eliminate me from your memory?"

"You are poisonous. This is the antidote. Now get out of my way before I rid myself of the source."

"I can't let you do that."

Lucy whistled, with Rufus and Wyatt emerging from underneath discarded blankets, caught the spy from behind, and subdued him just as swiftly.

"Thank goodness." Rufus sighed. "My sinuses were acting up."

"Yeah, couldn't take much more of his yammering. Seriously, all this trouble for a cracked mind?" Lucy scowled at Wyatt. He raised a hand in defence. "Therapy is all am saying."


"Nothing."

"Nope. Nada thing."

Flynn halted before the two-way mirror, with brow creased in a heavy furrow. He stroked his forehead. "I could've sworn."

"Garcia, this is the fifth time you repeated the same line of questioning. Tomorrow will place you at the heart of Chinatown, where your counterpart will chase after Lucy, to protect her from Emma. It's imperative you focus on what's important and stop with these idiotic pleas."

"They're not idiotic, Richard."

"My mistake."

"They are real experiences, with the same building repeating itself for the sake of deterring me. Why?"

"Your subconscious mind retaliating. How the hell should I know?"

"You're the doctor."

"Different kind of doctor."

"Yes, my mistake."

"It is."

"Don't patronize me, Dick."

"And don't you dare put me at fault." Richard growled. "See this for what it is."

"And what's that?" Flynn boomed at the mirror. "Mm? Midlife crisis? Doubt? Fear? You rebuke me, but you're the one cowering behind an imaginary shield. You're the gutless, spineless worm who tricked me into believing I made a difference." Laughter bubbled in his chest. "Some difference. And they call me the crazy one. I like to think I'm the only person who makes sense. Who has a clue, that even my subconscious mind knows this is useless. And that you are the manipulator, the ambitious pinhead who sought glory and fame from the onset. I'm a science experiment. A sucker for punishment!"

"Revolutionary." Richard replied lowly.

"There's nothing ground-breaking about this insane plot. You're a blind fool, Richard! And I was just too blind to see that I'm dead either way." Outraged, Flynn threw his hands up. "So finish your experiment and send me on my lovely way." He turned his back on the mirror. "All said and done, what am I to do? Yeah? All ends well."