"You irresponsible, clumsy bozo!" Daphne bellowed at Professor McFly. "Why did you have to mess around with time travel in the first place? Get them back here right now!"
McFly cringed under Daphne's fiery glare. "I'm sorry, but the mechanism is completely wrecked, and with the portal gone... I'm afraid your friends are now stranded in the future!"
Daphne was furious, but before she could respond, the portal suddenly reappeared, and Sam, Clover and Alex tumbled out, landing in a heap on the dirty floor.
"Clove!" cried out Daphne as she helped her sister and friends to their feet and pulled them into a group hug. "I thought we lost you all! Are you three okay?"
Clover grinned back. "We're fine, Daph. How long have we been gone?"
"Just a few seconds," said Daphne. "What happened to you guys in there? The prof said you got zapped into the future."
Clover opened her mouth to answer, then suddenly frowned. "That's weird. I can't seem to remember a thing."
"Neither can I," said Sam as she and Alex exchanged equally puzzled looks. "Maybe we saw something of our future we're not supposed to know about and the portal wiped our memories to preserve the time-lines."
"That's freaky," said Alex. "Ah well, at least we're home okay. Now, let's call Jerry and get this mission wrapped up."
It took a few hours for the WOOHP team to finish dismantling McFly's time-travel equipment, during which Sam, Clover and Alex were checked over by the medic, who soon confirmed that the spies were completely unharmed by their trip through the time portal. As soon as they were given the A-OK, the girls headed back to their penthouse to get some rest, while Jerry gave Professor McFly a stern lecture about responsible experimentation and the dangers of meddling with time.
The next day, the spies were in high spirits as they met up with their fellow agents at the annual WOOHP picnic, which that year was being held in the local park. The gathering went well into evening, with no incidents occurring to spoil things, and as everyone present gossiped away merrily and drank glasses of champagne, Sam was chatting happily with Dean, while Alex, Clover and Daphne were recounting the events of the previous day to Stella and Carmen.
"So you have no memory at all of what you saw in there?" asked Stella as the girls finished their story.
"No, not a thing, Mom," said Clover, as she took a sip from her glass. "Just an impression that it's a pretty good future ahead, and we were meant to forget it so that it can all unfold as it's meant to."
"Bit of a pity that you can't remember, though," remarked Carmen. "It would have been nice to know if Alex finally gets a boyfriend. Oh, sorry hon! I don't mean to embarrass you."
"It's okay, Mom," smiled Alex. "Funnily enough, after we got back to the penthouse yesterday, I bumped into Ray, who I go to veterinarian studies with, and he asked if we could go out on a date. We're going to the cinema this Thursday."
"That's lovely, Alex," smiled Carmen. "I sure hope it all works out for you both."
Stella took another sip of champagne, then noticed someone coming over to join them.
"Say, Clover. Isn't that Britney and your old boyfriend coming towards us?"
With a squeak of excitement, Clover turned around to find Blaine had come over with Britney, now standing next to her, a happy expression on his face.
"Hey, Clover. How have you been doing?" he asked cheerfully.
"Blaine! I'm great, thanks!" said Clover with a blissful look on her face.
Blaine rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly. "Look, Clover, I'm really sorry about the way we left things on the WOOHP blimp. That was way uncool of me. Would you, um, still be up for us to give it another go at the dating thing?"
"Would I?" Clover squealed, almost unable to believe her luck. "Well, why don't we go and talk things through. 'Scuse us, everyone."
And with that, Clover and Blaine moved off to talk things through, much to the astonishment of everyone else.
"Goodness me, did those two just get back together?" said Stella in surprise.
Alex grinned at Britney. "Say, did you have anything to do with this, Britney?"
Britney smiled back. "Yeah, as you know, Blaine and I have worked on a number of missions together in Australia. He's a cute guy, but I could tell that Clover is the one he loves. He's just not very good at commitment, so I talked him into pulling himself together and give things another go with Clover."
"Hmm, not sure how I feel about Clove dating someone who once tried to assassinate her," pondered Daphne. "But I suppose he's a nice guy once you get to know him."
Just then, Sam came and joined them, with an ecstatic expression. "Hey, everyone, you won't believe what just happened. Dean and I were chatting, and he asked me out on a date! We're off to see the opera in a few days."
"Wow, that's amazing, Sammy," said Alex elatedly. "We're so happy for you. You and Dean would make a great couple."
As Alex and Sam talked, Stella, Carmen, and Daphne shared a joyous expression with one another.
"Gracious, our daughters suddenly all have boyfriends again," commented Stella.
"Yeah, and I have a strange feeling that these ones are going to stick," added Carmen.
Daphne looked at the jubilant Sam and Alex, then towards Clover and Blaine, who were a short distance away, happily talking things through.
"You know," said Daphne with a thoughtful smile, "I think the happy future that's awaiting Clover, Sam and Alex is perhaps rather nearer than we might expect."