Harry woke up slowly, finding himself the big spoon for once and listened to Leewit pretending to just wake up. He was pretty sure she needed less sleep than him and wasn't sure if it was because he was still healing or just something that was true of humans in her time. Regardless of the reason he was thankful she never let him wake up alone. He'd had enough of being alone and from what he could sense, she felt the same way.

"Time to get up," The Leewit said, unbuckling the belt tying them together.

Harry gave her a squeeze before letting her go and sat up. "Are we going back to Karres now or tonight?"

"We'll say our goodbyes and have some breakfast before leaving," The Leewit replied, "but don't worry we can always come back for a visit, we just have to be careful not to meet ourselves."

"Really?" Harry asked with a bright smile before frowning. "Does something bad happen if we meet ourselves, like one set fading out of existence?"

"What? No," she said, shaking her head, "it's just really annoying as the older version of you is always smirking since they know something you don't, but won't say anything since they didn't have their older selves say anything when they were their younger selves."

"That does sound annoying," Harry agreed, "and confusing. Have you ever looped yourself?"

"I've caught a glimpse of myself a time or two, but I'm smart enough to know how annoying I am so I've stayed out of my own way," the little blonde witch assured him.

"Would I annoy myself and be smug?" Harry said aloud as he considered the idea. "Yeah, I think I would," he decided.

"And that's why we avoid ourselves, saves headaches all around," The Leewit said. "Well, enough about that, let's go eat."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Did you follow that?" The Director asked the Division Heads, looking up from the play he was reading.

"Yes," Justin said dryly. "I'd probably be more annoyed at not telling myself about the future than smug, but we'd both end up annoyed."

"Of all the dangers of time travel we've theorized, that's not one I expected," Dr. Li said, shaking her head.

Dr. Holdren chuckled. "I would be unbearably smug."

The Director nodded. "I'd lean more towards frustration myself. Still, it's nice to hear that time travel doesn't cause any of the theorized dangers we've been concerned about." He turned to Li. "Have Sally and Linda been briefed on their mission?"

Li nodded. "I've instructed them both, though I'm not sure Linda is a good choice for it."

The Director nodded. "Understandable, she has no sense of subtlety, however her blunt and cheerful manner seems to produce the best results when it comes to interacting with them."

Li nodded. "We'll see what results they get rather quickly."

"I feel… hopeful," The Director said with a small quirk of his lips, "however, even if they decide to forgo getting a complete scan, we have enough to continue with the project, albeit at a slower rate."

"As you've pointed out, cancer has a rapid growth rate, but it's not sustainable," Dr. Holdren said.

"Indeed." He turned the page and asked, "I think I'd like to play Dr. Scott."

"I believe Justin would make a good Dr. Frank N. Furter," Dr. Holdren quickly spoke up, ignoring the glare the man shot him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"It's not going to be much fun without you guys here," Linda said.

"We'll try and visit," The Leewit assured her, "but we've got an appointment back on Karres and a lot more wandering to do."

"With a full scan it'll be like you've never left," Sally suggested. "I know it won't be the same as having you here, but its close."

"Is it a Synth thing?" Harry asked, knowing Synth's had developed at least a few traditions among themselves based on their origins that the natural born humans hadn't noticed, but then the natural born humans were still adapting to the knowledge that Synths were human and not simply equipment.

"Very much so," Sally agreed. "We've tried to make sure we have full scans of all the humans here, though ones like Higgs have refused."

"He's really difficult to work with," Linda said, "always angry and finding fault with our work."

"Let's go get the scan done now," The Leewit suggested, her precognition showing not a trace of danger and feeling how much it meant to the two Synths. "How long does it take?"

"The original scanners took hours," Sally replied, "but the new ones take about five minutes."

"I'm going to make my own copy of the scans to keep with my scan of Father," Linda said, smiling brightly.

Sally blinked. "We can do that?"

Linda shrugged. "No one stopped me."

"I want copies," Sally said firmly.

Harry grinned, feeling the happiness the two Synths were radiating at the thought of having such a keepsake and thinking it was a lot like how humans kept a lock of hair from those they loved.

The Leewit found the idea of keeping a lock of hair touching, but decided she didn't want a lock of Harry's hair since she had Harry himself.

Harry smiled broadly at feeling her thoughts. It was so nice to be wanted.

"Right this way," Linda said eagerly and skipped down the hall, making Sally sigh, though both children could feel her hidden amusement.

"That looks like a tanning bed," Harry noted as they entered a room with two rows of the devices, three against each wall.

"It does that too," Linda said. "Everyone uses it for at least four hours a week to help the body produce vitamin D and regulate their brain chemistry to prevent mood swings."

"It also ensures anyone sent above has a proper tan, so they don't stick out as vault dwellers," Sally added.

"Huh," Harry said thoughtfully, wondering if the Dursleys had known about that and if that was why he was locked in the dark for days on end.

The Leewit checked with her pattern to see if it knew of any techniques that would cause people to react to temperatures above sixty degrees as if they were near scalding, but received a negative reply. She wasn't sure if that was because none had been invented or if she simply wasn't skilled enough to use them yet and decided to spend more time practicing.

Sally grabbed a handle on the side of a metal cylinder and opened it, revealing a platform of clear material surrounded by a multitude of long glass bulbs and a built in helmet at one end. "You just lay on the table with your head in the neural scanner and we'll do the rest."

"Do you want a sunlight treatment while you're in there?" Linda asked. "It can really perk you up!"

"Sure," Harry agreed, "I could use some sun."

The Leewit nodded as they both climbed in a couple of tubes and the Synths typed away on the keyboards.

"See you in fifteen minutes," Linda said cheerfully as they closed the tubes on the two.

'That's the lowest time setting for light exposure,' The Leewit sent to Harry as she felt his confusion about why their five minute scan was going to take fifteen minutes and read the answer from Linda's mind.

"Oh," Harry said aloud, as he felt his body heat up and found his life flashing before his eyes.

Of course, since it went by at roughly a week a second it wasn't really all that interesting except for the last thirty seconds where he caught glimpses of his parents and their home. His mother had bright red hair and eyes like his, while his father had donated the untamable mop on his head, and they both cast magic using a wand. He'd had loving parents and uncles at some point, all of whom used wands and turned into animals, unless they were animals who turned into people, he didn't see enough to tell.

He wondered if it was possible to visit them, then realized he hadn't seen his older self or Leewit there, which he was sure he would have noticed, so apparently they didn't. It was a bit of a letdown, but not much as he wouldn't have been able to stay with them and really he only wanted to introduce them to Leewit and let them know he loved them which they probably already knew.

Finding out the Dursleys had lied about his parents wasn't all that surprising, of course as Miss Crabopple had once said about some politicians, 'They might not be lying, they might just be stupid.' which really fit the Dursleys.

He was broken from his introspection by Leewit's curiosity about wands.

He thought about what he'd seen in his memories involving wands, which had flickered past much too quickly for him to recall any real details, but then he found he knew quite a bit about wands which were a multipurpose magic foci that allowed one to use the magic in the environment to enhance one's own mana stores for casting purposes.

It took him a second to realize where the knowledge came from. 'Patterns are awesome!' he thought and felt Leewit's amusement.

He shared what he knew or rather could understand about wandlore, as a good deal of it went over his head. Sure, he could recite the details, but it was incredibly complex and made little sense to him.

The Leewit shared her knowledge of magical foci, but that consisted of a single device used as a faster than light drive which was much easier to create and use as you only needed a few lengths of copper wire.

Harry found a couple dozen more foci floating through his thoughts, but none were as all around useful as a wand, though some were much easier to create, simply requiring precious metals and gems.

The Leewit chewed her lip as she went through the information that Harry's pattern was feeding them. A lot of it went over her head and there were references to creatures Harry thought were mythological, but apparently existed. She considered the possibility of travelling to his time, but it made Harry uncomfortable and wands weren't allowed to be purchased for anyone under eleven for some reason, so she dismissed the idea for now. They could go when they were older and Harry was more comfortable with the idea.

Harry smiled, happy that someone actually listened and cared about his feelings. He ignored Leewit's thoughts on the best way to burn the Dursley's house down that seemed from the brief glimpse, unimaginative and repetitive as he was sure she'd had the same idea before and he believed she could do better.

The Leewit considered that and tried to come up with a more exciting and entertaining way to set the Dursley's house on fire using Harry's knowledge of it to great effect.

Ten minutes later

A bell rang out from the two cylinders and the girls opened them.

"Plasma is a lot harder to put out," The Leewit said as she sat up.

"Yeah, but in Surrey it's also harder to get your hands on it, while petrol is everywhere," Harry told her.

"Telepathic conversation while you were tanning?" Sally guessed.

"If by petrol you mean gasoline, there are additives to make it burn underwater and stick to things like glue," Linda offered.

"We'll have to stop by and borrow some," The Leewit decided as they grabbed their packs.

"Do we need to take you to the surface?" Sally asked, deciding to ignore that.

"No, we got it," The Leewit assured her, as a blanket slithered out of her pack and wrapped the two up like mummies.

After a few seconds Linda opened her mouth to say something and the blanket wrapped pair vanished, causing her to stare in silence for a moment. "Did we install a molecular relay in here?" she asked.

"No," Sally replied slowly.

"I'm going to miss them," Linda said.

"Not for long," Sally said, holding up a data stick.

"Oh!" Linda said, eyes lighting up. "Do you think we can make a Synth version of Father?"

"Ask first," Sally told her, deciding to let someone else talk her out of her crazy idea.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Malcolm Reynolds stared nonplussed at the blanket burrito that unraveled to reveal a pair of young children. "Jayne, did you kidnap anyone at our last stop?!" he called out.

Jayne climbed down the ladder into the hold. "Not that I recall, but why are you askin' me?"

"Who else on board would kidnap someone?" he asked flatly.

"Yeah, got a point there," Jayne agreed, "no one else has the balls for it."

"I don't think this is Karres," Harry told The Leewit.

"I have really got to work on my aim," The Leewit said with a sigh.

"Did you two stowaway?" Mal asked gently, trying not to spook them.

"Don't do that," The Leewit growled out. "You do that clumpin' kiddie speak bullshit and I'll punch you in the balls."

Mal frowned and straightened up. "Fine, I'm not that fond of stowaways or kids. Who are you and is anyone going to be coming after us lookin' for you?"

The Leewit gave him a respectful nod, pleased that he was treating them like competent human beings, before opening her mouth to answer his questions.

"Jerky?" Harry asked Jayne, offering him a stick of dried and salted meat.

"Don't mind if I do," Jayne said, accepting it and taking a bite as Harry pulled out another stick for himself. "Spicy," he said.

"That's the scorpion venom and probably a bit of the radioactivity," Harry told him cheerfully.

"Poisoned and radioactive jerky?" Jayne asked, deciding that wasn't a good enough reason to stop eating it.

"It's made from rad scorpion meat," Harry explained, "with just enough poison for flavor and a touch of Radaway to help with the radiation. Sally said it actually boosts your poison and radiation resistance for about half a day."

"Tastes pretty good for insect meat," Jayne said with a smile.

"The folks at the Institute don't care for it, but the Coursers swear by it," Harry said.

"They got good taste," Jayne said. He glanced over and saw the captain was arguing with the blonde stowaway. "I was just about to drink some beer and clean my guns, wanna help?"

"Sure," Harry agreed. "Ray guns or slug throwers?"

"Why would someone make a gun to throw slugs?" Jayne asked as he climbed up the ladder with Harry following right behind.

"I know," Harry agreed, "I thought the same thing!"

Typing by: Abyssal Angel

TN: Oh my giddy aunt… I never thought I'd come across a worse role model for Harry than one of the Marauders in their prime. I stand WILDLY corrected. XD