Part 3: Should've Taken That Left At Albuquerque

Ruda leaned forward in the tree, her eyes shining, a beatific smile on her face. She was simply lost in the moment. True, she couldn't hear the conversation, but she could see them. It should be enough considering the mess they were in, but it wasn't.

"Ruda?" Catherine stage-whispered from below.

The Slayer looked down, her smile growing broader. Her Watcher Honoria would never admit it, but this had to be as exciting and as nerve-wracking for Catherine as it was for her. Ruda, after all, was just an adherent. Catherine had the bloodline, not that it seemed to make a difference to her.

"You saw one of them," Catherine stated calmly.

"Both," Ruda slithered down the tree. "They were talking, so maybe we got lucky."

"Not so much," Catherine said in an undertone. She jerked her head in the direction of J'Nal and Charlie. "They managed to dig a newsie from a disposal. We're not in Moscow."

"Where are we?"

Catherine answered with a sigh. "Cleveland 2003."

Ruda blinked. "Did I mention that I was really sorry?"

Catherine clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going to say that everything's peachy, but that hostile wasn't going to go away if we asked nicely. Chances are, we would've been stuck no matter what, so stop kicking yourself. We've got bigger problems."

"We have to go home empty-handed," Ruda glumly said.

"Like hada we are," Ms. Tikri said, "do you know what this means? We're at the beginning! Where it all began! We can ask questions, we can get the straight dope, we can get answers! We get the story that you just can't find in the historical record."

"Or we can leave these people in peace," Catherine stated. "They have their lives to live and right now they're under a lot of pressure. The last thing they need is for us to dump our troubles on their doorstep."

"Our troubles are pretty big," Charlie said, trotting up to the knot of women. "Besides, last I checked, they were pretty resourceful, so maybe they can help."

"They can't," J'Nal flatly stated, his face appearing over Charlie's shoulder. "We know what the historical record says. They were approached for help in Moscow 2008."

"Except we know that's not possible," Charlie protested. "You said yourself that the moment we interfered or interacted on even the tiniest levels, we couldn't just insert ourselves at any other point in the time stream because of the Domino Effect."

"That's right," J'Nal said tightly.

"Yet, Catherine's family records and the Council Honoria's archives are pretty clear: we as a group spoke to them in Moscow 2008." Charlie crossed his arms. "So we had to interact with them at some point. It was written and it was done."

Catherine sighed. "We were not named as individuals. It could've been another team that approached them."

"C'mon, Catherine. How many times have you read that entry? How many times has the Council Honoria read that entry? Hada, they even sent it to the Council Educationary for a second opinion, and you know what the relationship between the two can be like," Charlie insisted. "You and I both know that there are enough clues that point to every single one of us here."

"What?" Ms. Tikri exclaimed. "Are you telling me…"

"That we had another reason for inviting you." Catherine winced. She was hoping to keep it a secret. This mission was falling apart faster than callin in water.

"Are you telling me that I'm futching part of the story?" Ms. Tikri sounded enraged. "You know that goes against every witnesser principle there is! We do not take sides and we do not get involved! We observe!"

"And if someone kept their mouth shut, that's all you'd've been doing," Ruda glared at the medic.

"Besides, it's too late now," Catherine added. "You're as stuck as the rest of us. No one's asking you to make a real contribution…"

This comment got a round of appreciative chuckles and a glare from Ms. Tikri.

"…but we are right now in a bit of mess and we have to figure out what to do."

"Well, since we're now rooted here, we're stuck for at least a week before I can even attempt to spell us home," J'Nal said.

"And they are here," Ruda's voice had a near-pleading tone. "I want to talk to them. I want to really see them. Catherine, tell me you don't want the same thing."

"And they are resourceful. Maybe they can help us," Charlie mused. "Maybe the place and year don't really matter."

"My bosses are gonna kick my astra if I present them with a bar bill and no futching story," Ms. Tikri mumbled.

"What about your principles?" Charlie asked with amusement.

"On hiatus until I get home," the witnesser replied.

Everyone in the group fell silent, waiting for Catherine to render her opinion. She bit her lip, looking around her group. They were ill equipped to survive on Tara in the ancient past, at least not without help. In the end, concern for the people under her care won out over her instinct to keep to the original timeline intact.

She had a feeling she was going to be sorry.

"We go with Charlie's plan," she said with more assurance than she really felt. "Problem is, we can't just walk right up, ring the front doorbell, and ask to speak to Mr. Harris or Ms. Lanoire."

"So what are we gonna do then?" J'Nal asked.

Catherine smiled. "You are gonna put on a sound and light show."

TBC…