"So why'd you suddenly just let me back in the mansionhouse, Brax?" Jason's arms were crossed, and an expression of scepticism met his features. Many emotions were running through him about this- none of them good. The surroundings would have been absolutely stellar, a marvel to everyone allowed to simply set foot here even once, though this was the site of something terribly unpleasant, the remembered sensations flashing through whenever he looked too closely at anything. Despite this, the man across him at the desk of the study seemed to have a pleasant, amicable demeanour regardless.

Braxiatel smiled warmly, "You're a very special friend, of course I'd want to allow you here!" he exclaimed, outstretching his arms in welcome.

Jason only glared and snarled, "Cut the bullshit."

Braxiatel's voice turned cold. "Well then," and his face fell into a solemn, stormy glare to match the man standing opposite him as he lost the jubilant mask. Then he proceeded to snap his fingers, making the door violently swing shut behind them, and the lock clicked all by itself. The very room seemed to dim, too, matching his real mood.

Ever so quietly, he beckoned Jason to step forward, "Any threats or attempts at violence will be responded with in kind, Jason Kane." Every syllable was chilling to the bone.

Jason stepped forward more than Brax wanted, moving closer to his desk in a manner challenging of Irving. "So this is the real you. You're still like this, are you?" he interrogated.

He rolled his eyes, completely and utterly unamused, but otherwise calm. "Still? No. Not quite. I am indeed a different Braxiatel. I didn't actually kill you, I didn't turn you into a cyber controller, or make you follow my whims against your own volition. I wouldn't." He seemed almost apologetic about it. Almost.

"Not a high bar to pass, is that?" he snarked. For someone so out of the loop, that explained nothing. It only made him bitter and frustrated at the injustice of it all, "How do you know about all of it then, eh?"

Brax straightened his tie and moved to shift around some of the paper on the desk, just to keep his hands occupied, "It was Benny, at first. Then, little... leaks. The memories come and go of that life. I have most of it today. I didn't yesterday, I might not tomorrow. It depends. They're most likely the same leaks that brought you here. But I assure you that I'm perfectly sane. Or, as sane as I've ever been." He paused, explaining exactly why he made the previous threat. "However, considering you were very close to strangling me before I did the same, it's only self-defence to say that violence isn't welcome, and that all the chateau security systems are on and honed directly onto your bioprint." He shrugged, seemingly in ambivalence, but one side of his lip quivered and curled upright, ever so slightly.

Jason threw his hands in the air and turned away, staring daggers over his shoulder. "Great. So what're you gonna do with me? Why bring me here? You didn't say. Or at least you didn't say the truth."

Irving inspected his fingernails, feigning total disinterest. He was actually very much interested in what was going on with Jason right about now, but if he let that on, his reactions wouldn't be genuine, "Oh, a few reasons. Not to hypnotize you, or attempt it, anyway- if you're worried about that. You're evidently simply too stupid for it to actually hold." He rolled his eyes and took a sip from a porcelain teacup that appeared from nowhere, then delicately placed it on the saucer and rested his chin on the backs of folded hands. "No, only to tell you a little story, and perhaps ask a few questions of my own. Sit down, get... comfortable."

"Alright..."

Jason gritted his teeth and reluctantly did as he was told, sitting in the other leather armchair opposite Braxiatel. He still kept his guard up, and couldn't so much as sink an inch into the plush cushioning that made most able to relax instantly.

After a sip of tea, Brax began gesticulating dramatically, "A long time ago, roughly thirty years- or perhaps a few thousand for me, I met you. Another you, from the timeline that exists now. And another Bernice. I met the one you married before her. This Benny was young, bright, comparatively optimistic. It was a... a change, from the friend I'd made before. But, obviously, I didn't lose touch with the Bernice here today. One is practically always as good as the last."

Jason's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're meddling with time again, aren't you? Screwing with people's lives?"

Brax waved it off, "Oh, I kept that to a minimum. A few minuscule changes here and there- but nothing retroactive. Foreknowledge is so much more useful if you can actually trust the person granting it," he smiled knowingly. Boasting over getting around the roadblock of constantly getting in his own way with what he deemed such a clever solution made Irving look like the cat that caught the canary.

Jason's jaw dropped.

"-No."

"Yes."

"Benny."

"Exactly," His eyes twinkled cheekily over the delicate cup.

It was hard to take in, to say the very least. "How- what? Why would she-?"

Irving put it down again and simply shrugged, "She had her own motivations to aid me with this plan. One of which...being saving you," he added pointedly.

"What?"

It was simple enough for the Time Lord who orchestrated the whole thing to comprehend, so he put it plainly, "There's another Jason here at the Collection. I'm glad to report that his Bernice left without him, going with Adrian, Bev, and Peter. I do miss her, and it was my fault she left to begin with, but it is for the best." He knew exactly how to twist his words, anything to make it clear how unwanted Jason really was. In every timeline, he'd get left behind in some manner.

Jason racked his brain, "Why would you-? But... that must mean-" a realization hit.

And the answer only confirmed his suspicions, "-Still no Keith or Rebecca, yes. I was getting to that. There was one thing I did. To save your- or, his life. Or, more accurately, keep him alive. If I didn't, he'd be too far in the way again. And too much trouble for her. Both of her." He'd been a distraction in that timeline, he would've been one now, if it weren't for a move so simple that an amateur could have thought of it.

"So you-"

"-Made him stop loving her, yes."

Whether that was worse or better than what was done to him, Jason wasn't sure. "And is Benny still just useful to you? Or was this to get rid of the competition?" Jason's tone was acidic, burning.

Irving's response was... disappointing, "...No. She is one of few things in this universe I still hold dear. And I did never think you were good enough." He counted some of the reasons why on his fingers, "The scamming, the stealing, the abandonment, the fighting, the serial cheating- though, her romantic endeavours are still entirely her choice, regardless of how much or how little I approve. I told you, I am not that Braxiatel. While I understand those motivations- and at several points, I very much have wanted to get rid of you for some reason or another, those actions were against all logic or moral judgement." The last part he added casually, like a footnote to the entire 'resisting the urge to kill you' thing.

Jason tried to understand what was going on, and therefore took a while to piece a decent sentence together- but at least he thought out the words coming out of his mouth, "Alright. So you messed with time and did mostly the same thing again, but a bit different. Is that it?"

Brax shrugged one shoulder and his teacup clinked in the saucer as he set it down once more, "That just about sums it up. Protecting us in the kindest way possible for the universe. For the greater good." He was softer here, not smug, not ambivalent, not terrifying. Just- quietly determined.

But Jason wasn't convinced in the slightest.

"Heard that before."

Seeming to wipe away a bit of dirt on the desk in front of him before taking his teacup and glancing over the rim, he stated, "I always do my best for the greater good, Jason. Bernice did make the hard choices. See this for what it is, a clean slate."

That was the kicker. "There are only two people I actually know here!" He didn't belong in this universe, and he was going to make that fact known.

"Exactly. Nobody to have a bad impression of you," he chuckled to himself condescendingly, eyes lidded. "Or, at least- far fewer."

"And Benny just let all this happen?!"

Irving sighed in annoyance, irritated as if there was simply something Jason wasn't getting, "I told you. She wanted to save your life. Along with untold billions. She'd tread through any number of anomalies and paradoxes to see that to the end. And so would I. I did everything I could to pick up the pieces and atone for what was done by my other self. What we have now is a stable and safe home that can stand the test of time and allow history to continue on the closest thing to its intended course as possible." Regardless of his methods, he was a guardian. Of people, of art, of time. A guardian with (mostly) the best of intentions.

"But now I'm here," Jason commented, in a tone that was hard to judge.

"But now you're here," Brax simply parroted the obvious statement.

Jason was still as lost and confused as ever, as if the disorientation from reawakening had never fully gone, "Where do I fit in all this? What chess piece am I gonna be this time, hmm Brax?" Jason just knew he was in some sort of scheme, he just didn't know what it was. And he was going to find out. He'd never truly know how off-track he really was.

"As long as you don't do anything to us or put us in danger, none at all. That includes telling anyone about what was said during this meeting. After the staff meeting is done, stay here or go- if you don't become a threat... Just take this little anecdote as a lesson." Braxiatel rested folded hands on the desk.

Crossing his arms again and falling back in the chair, Jason asked the obvious question, "What makes you think I'll keep my mouth shut?"

Irving glanced away for a second, opened a drawer, took something out, and then slid it across his desk. It took a minute for Jason to realize exactly what it was, but when he did, his eyes widened.

Brax explained the deal with it, what he was offering in exchange, "-A plasti-disc key to the mansionhouse. You can return at any time. Use a few of the archives, get some entertainment, visit anyone who lives here. Including Benny, if she'll have you. I trust she won't go behind my back, so do with this what you will."

He reluctantly took the small, round, piece of pink plastic that Brax had placed in front of him. Accepting the deal was accepting quite a lot to take in. He didn't know if he'd really manage to stay quiet, but the lack of migraine was already a little convincing. Braxiatel was being frank. This was how Irving spoke when he knew he wouldn't remember. But he would, if any of this was true. Jason raised a suspicious eyebrow. A very suspicious eyebrow.

"You're- really trusting me with this?"

Reluctantly, Brax stated, "If you think you'll find anything about my mission, most of it is already known, to the few it would be ever useful information to, at any rate. And bring it up to my people, if you think they'd ever change enough to care now- it simply won't work, because they're gone." He paused- the words were solemn and hollow, and he couldn't so much as look the other man in the eye. "As one of the last, I am enforcing the laws of time as much as I'm bending them."

"Breaking them," he shot back.

Not the wittiest retort.

Irving rolled his eyes and waved it off, stirring more sugar into his tea. "Don't be so pedantic, Kane. I've given you a place to stay, I've given you the freedom to go where you wish, including leave, your friends and family, your life. If you need money, I'll even give you that. As such a major paradox, on Gallifrey, you'd have been thrown into the Oubliette of Eternity and cease to have ever existed."

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "That's what this is then. I'm just another disposable. Still. Just like back then. Just like when you-" but he was stopped.

"No, no, no, no, no." Brax wagged his finger and shook his head. "-Again, not quite. You're in the same situation as most everybody else here. I really don't want to have to kill or harm you, Mr Kane. But I do what I must to protect us all. Be a danger to us again, and I won't hesitate." He laid his hands folded on the mahogany surface of the desk and leant over threateningly.

Jason's eyes widened again and he pushed himself out of the chair to get away. "I see you Brax, I see you. I'll be watching, to make sure that Benny's safe."

It was so ridiculous in his eyes that Braxiatel could only laugh- something deep and not at all restrained like it usually was- not actually unhinged, but certainly bordering on it, "Oh- haha hahaha... Oh, dear me. How amusing. She can fend for herself perfectly well. But if all else fails, I will be her shield, because Bernice is very important. And I care about her deeply. Love her. In the ways that you never did," his words drove the knife deep, twisting it in his chest.

Jason looked away, then pushed against the desk harshly and turned around, "That's it, I'm-"

After a long exhale, Brax affirmed it, "Yes. You should go. It's probably for the best." Irving snapped his fingers and the latch of the door to his office undid itself, and it swung open once again. As soon as the study was unlocked, his polite and jolly mask shifted back into place and the room brightened again, putting its lavish busts, wall paintings, and frescos on full display once more.

"Bye, Brax," he waved reluctantly as he approached the exit and looked back, cringing at the sight.

To someone who knew that wrath, Irving's warm smile was ever so unsettling. Eyes that seemed cold and dead, an expression that betrayed itself, despite the curled lips and the high eyebrows. "Goodbye, Jason. It was good seeing you, old friend."

The door shut behind him and Jason shivered. He didn't know what to think- the plans, the timelines, Benny knowingly involving herself in something like this. It wasn't that she was dating somebody else. So much changed in this timeline, and somehow he was always jealous about that. But that part of it wasn't what mattered here.

Brax was still Brax.

And that was what terrified him.