The news struck Alan (heretofore known as Alan 1) through the heart. Shaken and astonished, he slowly seated himself on the edge of the bed. "Francine dead...it's not possible..."

His duplicate (heretofore known as Alan 2) waved his arms with exasperation. "What did you do?" he asked. "What did you change?"

Alan 1, his mind overwhelmed with confusion and shock, didn't answer.

"Did you try to stop Sue Ellen from going to Africa?" asked Alan 2. "If so, then you failed. She's still in the hospital with a broken arm."

"No," said Alan 1 quietly. "Francine...how did she die? When did she die?"

"It happened yesterday, in the cafeteria," Alan 2 informed him. "She had just finished her lunch, then she keeled over. The doctors who performed the autopsy couldn't find a cause of death. No organ failure, no trace of poison. She just...dropped dead."

"Then the accident at the hardware store never happened," said Alan 1. "At least...not in your timeline."

"What accident?" asked Alan 2 curiously. "What hardware store?"

"She was in front of a hardware store," Alan 1 explained, "and a man knocked her over. She hit her head and ended up in a coma. Muffy said it was the same man who kidnapped Odette Cooper."

"Hmm." Alan 2 sat down on the edge of the bed next to his duplicate. "I remember Muffy saying something about seeing the kidnapper again. But Francine was never in a coma."

"That's because I went back and prevented her from hitting her head," said Alan 1.

"Mm-hmm." Alan 2 thought for a second. "That would explain why there's two of me now. You went back in time and prevented the accident, which caused me to not go back in time because the accident didn't happen in my timeline. So here I am, and here you are."

"I should have seen this coming," Alan 1 mourned. "If only I'd listened to Jason."

"It's all right," said Alan 2 comfortingly. "I would have done the same thing. In fact, I'd go back and save Francine right now, except I have no idea what killed her."

"Where is Jason, anyway?" asked Alan 1. "Maybe he can help us set things right."

"The last time I saw him was yesterday at school," said Alan 2. "He's not at the hotel anymore. I guess he's gone back to his own time."

"It doesn't make sense," said Alan 1 sadly. "Francine was alive when I went to the future."

Alan 2 shook his head. "I don't understand it either."

The two Alans sat in silence for several seconds.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to save Francine," Alan 1 proposed. "I tried to once, and now there are two of us, and Francine died anyway. Who knows what'll happen if we try to save her again?"

"There could be three of us," Alan 2 imagined. "And somebody else might drop dead."

"You don't think Francine died because I went back in time, do you?" asked Alan 1.

"I don't know what to think. Time travel is a weird business."

The boys sat silently and thought for a few more seconds.

"I agree with you," said Alan 2 somberly. "The time-space continuum has been damaged enough already. We'll just have to come to grips with the fact that Francine is dead."

"She was so young," Alan 1 lamented.

"There's just one loose end to tie up," said Alan 2.

Alan 1 turned to face him. "What's that?"

"We can't have two Alans running around. One of us will have to leave. Forever."

The Alans looked at each other anxiously.

"I guess it should be me," said Alan 1. "It's my fault this happened. But where will I go?"

"You could go to the future," Alan 2 suggested. "I'll adopt you. You'll be Jason's brother."

"That might work. But...that means you'll have to marry D.W."

Alan 2 swallowed nervously. "Uh...let's just flip a coin."

(Will Alan 1 and Alan 2 try to save Francine's life? Or should they leave the time-space continuum well enough alone? What do YOU think?)