The reporter was outraged. "Would someone PLEASE tell me why we cut to a FREAKIN' COMMERCIAL?"
"Come on! Come on!" They hustled him down the hallway. "You're going live on location. The chopper's waiting!"
He allowed himself to be rushed out the doors and crammed in to the helicopter.
"YOU'VE GOT FOUR MINUTES!" The aide told him as the cameraman climbed in after him. "YOU SHOULD BE THERE IN TWO!" He called over the noise of the machine as he slammed the door.
The reporter sat back quietly. The chopper… They let me ride in the chopper…
"We'll cut to the last interview. But we want the wrap up in front of the lighthouse!" The man mouthed through the helicopter door.
The reporter gave him a 'thumbs up'. And the helicopter lifted slowly off the ground.
Brian landed softly on the deck of the lighthouse and Kurt let go of him, cradling Rachael in his arms. He carried her inside and lay her down on the couch. Slowly she came around…
"K-Kurt…" She shook her head. "What are you doing here?"
Kurt smiled. "I live here." He supplied softly.
Her eyes opened wide and she tried to sit up but couldn't. "You… " She fell back exhausted. "I failed. I'm in the wrong timeline… Damn."
Kurt cocked his head to one side. "Let's start with your name." He smiled.
She looked tearful. "Rachael." She sniffed. "Rachael Grey."
Kurt and Kitty gasped slightly.
"Oh my …" Kitty shook. "You're a relative of Jean, aren't you?"
"She was my mother." Rachael nodded tearfully. "Until …" She shook her head. "But it's all wrong now! It won't happen the same way. Already things have changed. You're not supposed to be here!"
"Shhh… Calm down." Kurt told her. "Getting worked up isn't going to help right now. Maybe we can find a way to…"
But Forge had made eye contact with him and was slowly shaking his head.
"Vhat is it?" Kurt asked him.
Forge swallowed. "She's a time traveler." Forge said softly. "It's a difficult proposition to begin with – tracing back all those probabilities… Once you're in an alternate time line the odds on being able to find the original line you began with... Well… It's close to impossible." He admitted.
"They said… I'd only have one shot." She shook her head. "The resistance … it's dead without me." And she began to cry.
Kurt's eyes took on a harsh, sharp glint. "It doesn't mean we don't try." He said softly.
Rachael looked up at him, sadly.
"I promise." He whispered. "But… sleep now. You're no good to anyone until you do."
She nodded like a guilty child. "I will. I'm sorry."
Kurt smiled slowly and softly. "Don't vorry about it. You're probably entitled."
And she squeezed his hand in gratitude as he stood up.
"Come on. Let's give her some privacy." Forge said, ushering everyone out of the room.
Kurt followed suit as everyone flooded out of the room and waited just outside the door while Forge went to speak to Rachael.
"You were trying to go to that other world, the one with the armored lighthouse... With Scott and Jean… " He began.
She nodded. "My parents."
"Why?" Forge asked softly. "Time travel is such a risky proposition… It's amazing that you got this far."
She swallowed. "My world… it's been destroyed. By my father."
"Scott?" Forge asked.
She nodded. "He … In my world… was given leadership of Excalibur… With military powers…"
"And he used them." Forge nodded. Unlike Kurt…
She sighed and looked away. "More like 'abused' them." She said sadly. "He tried to control every angle of everything. It outraged the world but there was nothing they could do. England became a flash point for a race war between normal humans and mutants."
"And you wanted to stop it from happening." Forge finished with a sigh. "I get it now. I know why you couldn't do it."
"But… why?" She looked angry and questioning. "So many people died… it was…"
"That's right. It was." Forge interrupted. "But the world doesn't exist for the people who were here or even for the people who are here now. It exists for the people yet to be born. That's the natural way of things in any world. And you would have undone that. Think of how many people of your world would have been unborn and undone if you had succeeded. An entire generation would be undone, wouldn't it?"
"I... guess so." She admitted.
He hung his head. "I'm sorry. But once a decision of that magnitude was made… Even if you had landed in your world… You wouldn't have changed anything. The best you could have done would have been to spawn a new time line, another world to branch off it. But your homeworld… It's played out as it was supposed to, like it or not."
"I can't go back, can I?" She said softly.
"No." He told her. "Probably not." He took a deep breath. "I'll look in to it anyway… But I doubt it. I think you belong here now."
"W-what?" She shook her head. "I'm so confused."
He nodded. "This universe took you. That means something." He cut her a serious stare. "I think you should consider the idea that you belong here now."
"What do you mean?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"You risked your life by traversing a quantum energy state. When you cross that kind of barrier, thought, action and intention become one. You were trying to prevent something horrible."
"A holocost." She told him.
He nodded. "And so it's very likely that you've been sent to do just that – but in a world where you're allowed to make a difference without violating the rules of existence."
She swallowed. "Who… Who are you?"
"I'm called Forge."
She gasped. "You…"
He smiled slightly.
"You built the time machine I used to…"
He smiled grimly. "I built one here too. But I gave up on the idea when I realized the limitations and dangers."
"I see." She looked away with worried eyes.
He sighed. "Rest up." He told her. "If I'm right, you've got a lot to do in this world. And you'll need your energy."
"Th-thank… you." She shifted uncomfortably when he lifted the blankets over her. She seemed unaccustomed to such treatment.
Forge turned off the light as he left the room.
Kurt slouched against the wall.
"Is it true?" He asked. "Do you really think she's here to prevent something horrible?"
"Why not?" Forge shrugged. "You are."
Kurt cocked his head to one side and smiled. "Touche."
