Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1 which says I'm not making money off this or infringing on anyone's copyrights.
Author's Note: All action in this chapter occurs in the present.

Time to Consider
Chapter 25
By Callisto

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

He sat crouched in the cramped space waiting and quietly rocking back and forth. To all appearances, he appeared to be in a fugue state. The only indication to the contrary was in the way he made a conscious effort not to make too much noise. Only his lips moved as he reviewed what his own unique gifts had shown him. Everyone around him, the doctors and the monsters in suits, all thought he was incapable of having his own personality, desires and thoughts that went beyond the basic. It was a notion he learned early on, that would keep them off his back.

For Angelo, time wasn't something that should be measured with a clock, watch or calendar. To him, time was much like a train or subway without the limitations of tracks, a living machine that conducts its business in its own unique manner of adjustment and balance. Often it would go about its duties without anyone noticing but the strong electrical current that was forced through Timmy's extraordinary, healthy and resilient brain caused a strange brand of damage. The synaptic pathways that led most people onto the mental road of accepted normalcy had been blocked by Dr. Raines' experiments. Angelo's resiliency came into play when his considerably strong mind forged new pathways into places only partially guessed at or otherwise unknown to the doctors who tended him and the monsters who tried to use him.

Sydney was the only one who had tried to cure him. Assisted by the cure, the damaged brain tissue slowly gave way and allowed normal functions to commence. But when Angelo gave up his last dose for the child who had been damaged as he had, those pathways were blocked once again and his mind reverted back to its habitual behaviors while effectively creating immunities to protect him from any future cures.

His body tensed suddenly and he abruptly stopped rocking and listened. A sound, far off and faint alerted him. The monsters' servants were on patrol and poking around as usual. Avoiding their notice was child's play but they could be a nuisance. Once they moved back on to their usual patrol patterns, Angelo began rocking again. Closing his eyes tightly, he recalled what Time had shown him. A quick glance at its schedule, for want of a better word, alerted him to what was about to occur. His friend would be returning to this timeline and Angelo doubted it was something Jarod wanted.

Kowaris Cannery
Anchorage, AK

Ethan was still speaking to Jarod when the sequence started. He hoped that his genius brother wouldn't immediately figure out what they were up to and try to circumvent their actions. Once he heard the faint sounds of his sister's voice, Ethan was convinced that what they were doing to his siblings was the right thing.

Suddenly a blinding light began to build out of nowhere and flood the entire area. Then a wall of sound engulfed the enclosure. Amazingly it appeared as though everything they worked so hard for and spent so much time on was about to pay off royally. This would be the culmination of everything he wanted since last year when he lost both of them shortly after making a solid connection with his sister. It felt good to know that she would be home again and that he would have the chance to see her healthy, vibrant and safe.

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

The air was as dark and dank as the surroundings were close and snug—at least to him. Humming a comfortably familiar tune, he waited. Soon his patience was rewarded by a brilliant light that flooded the room, air duct and nearby hallway. All remained quiet but the light was so intense that Angelo wouldn't have been surprised if it produced a sound all its own. Then just as quickly as it appeared, everything was once again bathed in quiet darkness. For several seconds, he remained motionless, waiting with baited breath to see if the light had attracted any unwanted attention, but everything remained silent. Springing into action, Angelo scooted forward, looked through the air duct grate and found what he had been expecting.

A quick glance at the camera mounted on the wall, reassured him that it was still disabled. Once he felt confident, Angelo silently entered the small cell and inspected his visitor. He was lying on his stomach as if he had been thrown haphazardly on a bed that was too tiny for such a tall man. Getting a good long, look, Angelo noticed that many changes had occurred but at least Time had been uncharacteristically kind. Snapped out of his reverie, Angelo gingerly turned his visitor over, grabbed him from underneath his arms and dragged him to a chair against the wall where the opening of the grate waited. It took all of his considerable strength to first hoist the body onto one shoulder, and then to feed the dead weight into and through the opening. One last check of the room and straightening up a displaced item here or there, he opened the door to leave the cell and access the duct opening though another room, when the sound of rushing footsteps greeted him. With a sense of urgency, Angelo rushed in the opposite direction, entered an examining room at the end of the hall, and quickly disappeared through the grate into the air ducts. Within seconds, Angelo found his unconscious visitor still dangling halfway out of the air duct. He hauled the rest of the body through the opening, then silently apologizing, crawled over his visitor, and secured the grate once again, leaving the room with an undisturbed air.

Kowaris Cannery
Anchorage, AK

The machine slowly stopped spinning as the hum of its activity slowly came to a stop. The blinding light faded allowing the observers the chance to see the first blush of their success. Once everything was still and the event horizon folded in on itself, the copious floor was deathly silent. Finally a figure approached the area where the event horizon was restricted and peered into the containment field.

Whirling around to glare at the bespeckled scientist responsible, he asked, "What happened? Where are they!"

The scientist looked with anxious confusion at the empty containment area. He was at a loss to figure out what had gone wrong. Daniel, who accompanied his father and sister to this momentous occasion, also stepped forward and glanced from Ethan to Norwood and back again.

"We have to figure out what went wrong, fix it and try to find out where they are in time. Perhaps then we can make another attempt to retrieve them."

Norwood began frantically checking his computer and the printouts. The results were the same as they had been almost a year ago—his machine had transported two large objects, only this time it had done its duty without falling apart. Norwood checked and double-checked his findings, while Jarod's family stared forlornly at the empty spot in the containment field. Their hopes of having a joyous reunion dashed with the growing fear that something terrible may have occurred to Jarod. Therefore, Norwood's loud whoop of triumph was greeted with grimly hostile and disconcerted stares.

"It worked! I know, I know, it doesn't look like it, but the results are the same—it worked," Norwood shouted triumphantly while waving a sheaf of papers over his head.

"If it worked, then where are they?" Ethan demanded angrily.

"I can't answer that one, but it has to have worked," Norwood insisted stubbornly. At the incredulous looks he got from Jarod's family, he continued, "What we have to do now is to wait for them to make contact. This must've happened before when they entered the portal. What I do know without a doubt is that they're both here in this timeframe. The results are the proof."

Daniel turned from Norwood and looking gravely at his father and sister he replied, "I'll look over his findings and try to get a handle on what's happened and where we go from here."

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

Even without opening his eyes, the world was spinning. The nauseating vertigo sped up crazily like an ice skater holding her arms close to her body, and then slowly—very slowly came to a stop, leaving him with a sense of familiarity. He had been through this before, he thought, as he slowly opened his eyes. Everything was dark with only minute traces of light filtering through from somewhere far away. Wherever he was, it was close, small and cramped. If the didn't know better, he would say that he was in an aluminum coffin. He reached out and his fingers disappeared into the darkness. Emboldened, he propped himself up on one arm, partially raising his torso and reached up again. This time he was met with success and felt the smooth metallic surface of his surroundings. Using his hands, he quickly assessed his situation however as he was trying to sit up, his stabilizing hand slipped and he was caught not by a bracing fall but by the hand of another. In a panic, Jarod looked around and found a familiar face in the dim light.

"What's going on? Who are you? Angelo? Is that you? Where am I?" he asked in total confusion.

"The Centre, knew you were coming—waited," Angelo said in his broken fluency. He had waited several hours for Jarod to sleep off the effects of his temporal travel. They had to get moving because the other was still very much in danger.

"You knew? What the hell happened?" Jarod asked as his voice began to rise.

"Shhhh, they may hear, will come check. Must move, go somewhere safe." With that, Angelo picked up the rope he used to hoist Jarod's body further through the duct opening and immediately began to crawl towards safety. Not wanting to be caught once again by his torturers, Jarod followed with a sinking feeling spreading with a flourish through his stomach.

Several minutes later after following Angelo through a labyrinthine maze of ducts and side vents, they finally stopped. A fine sheen of sweat coated his brow as Jarod slumped against the wall of the air duct. He looked up to see Angelo smiling crazily at him, as though supremely proud of himself. Finally catching on to his non-verbal message, Jarod peered through the grate to find they were poised above Sydney's office. He turned to share an appreciative grin with Angelo. It would be good to see his old mentor again. Then it hit him. Parker, where was she?

Angelo carefully watched his friend and felt the tidal wave of worry; fear and concern envelop his friend. "Must wait for Sydney. He will help you get out. Old way no longer any good. New traps."

"They've upgraded the security?" Jarod asked in a rush. At Angelo's enthusiastic nod, Jarod said, "I'm sure I can get around them without involving Sydney. I've got to find Mari."

Shaking his head emphatically, Angelo placed a restraining hand on his friend's muscular arm. "New trap for you. They're waiting. Sydney will help. Wait for Sydney, will come soon."

"Angelo, I woke up in the Centre, heaven knows where Mari-umm Miss Parker is now. She's probably in danger and needs me."

"This is best. Sydney knows, will explain. Trust," Angelo answered with a pleading look in his eyes.

Jarod stared at his friend and relaxed reluctantly against the cool metal of the duct. "Alright, I'll wait. I can use Sydney's car to get to her house quicker anyway."

Again, Angelo began shaking his head. "Not there, she's home now."

"What do mean? That's where I'm going to check."

"Not home as adult but home as child. Friend is young again, too," Angelo answered.

"Oh my God, I forgot. Parker wanted me to inoculate us with the age inhibitor, it must've worked?" he asked curiously.

At Angelo's answering nod, Jarod continued, "It makes sense. Going through the portal, I was placed in the same spot I used to be in when I was this age. If it wasn't for the inhibitor, we would've advanced in age and landed in the warehouse in Buenos Aires. But where is Parker's childhood home?" Jarod murmured quietly to himself, forcing his still foggy mind to work.

"Lived with Daddy—Uncle. There now," Angelo replied with a sly smile.

"Mr. Parker's house outside of Blue Cove, of course!" Jarod replied with a smile. Then glancing at his friend, he commented, "You knew all along he wasn't her true father, didn't you?"

Before Angelo had a chance to shrug nonchalantly, a noise alerted them to Sydney's early arrival. Angelo peered through the grating and waited several minutes while the elderly psychiatrist got settled in for the day. With practiced ease, the savant aimed a small device at the camera recording Sydney's entrance. The copy of the tape Angelo made of Sydney's arrival yesterday smoothly began playing in the Centre's security department.

Jarod stared at his mentor with a feeling of melancholy shock. The old man appeared to have aged a decade instead of the year that had passed. The pretender never imagined that his disappearance would have such a negative effect on the old man.

While Jarod watched his mentor, Angelo quietly opened the grate and made a faint scratching sound to attract Sydney's attention. The psychiatrist looked up sharply; then a kindly smile suffused his increasingly wrinkled visage.

"Angelo, to what do I owe the honor of this visit? I apologize for not visiting you earlier but as you see, they've put me to work again," Sydney chatted amiably while Angelo jumped from the vent.

"Brought Friend, needs your help," Angelo answered simply.

A look of alarm crossed Sydney's eyes. He was forming the thought of asking who Angelo wanted him to help when the friend jumped down from the opening behind Angelo. When the young man straightened, Sydney was shocked into silence. There before him was the vision of Jarod at 19 or 20.

"Gemini? What are you doing here? It's extremely dangerous for you to be here! How did you get in? The new security measures would've picked up on your DNA immediately," Sydney replied answering at least one question.

"So, they've finally perfected the DNA ident-profile. That answers one question. Sydney, I think you should sit down for this," Jarod replied kindly.

Once Sydney complied, Jarod continued, "I'm not Gemini, it's me Jarod. The original Jarod, not the clone. Look Sydney, it'll take too long to explain this…"

He was interrupted by Broots bursting into Sydney's office to tell him of a security hiccup that occurred in the security system. "Hey, Syd, you're not going to believe this but security is up in arms! Oh, hi Angelo. Last night," Broots then looked over past Angelo to the other figure in the room and abruptly fell silent.

"Mr. Broots," Jarod nodded politely. In a rush he continued before Broots started asking too many questions. "Sydney, I need you to help me get out of the Centre. Miss Parker is in danger and I need to reach her."

"Miss Parker is back!" Broots exclaimed loudly.

Moving to the door, Jarod closed it gently and then turned back to his mentor. "Please Sydney, there's no time to lose. Will you help me?"

"Of course but answer one thing for me? What was the sim we were working on when we came up with our codeword?"

"It was a shipwreck sim, our codeword was refuge and I was four," Jarod replied in a rush.

"My God, how can this be?" Sydney asked no one in particular. Then abruptly switching gears to the problem at hand he said, "Crowley is coming by to take some samples to the nearby research lab. The cart is right outside, there's an empty area underneath to carry larger items and is covered with a drop cloth. Hide there—if I remember correctly, you're not squeamish. The samples are vacuum-sealed body parts. Lyle has everything coming into the Centre scanned but he hasn't had a chance to cover all the exits. Crowley will be using one of those exits to wheel the cart through to the loading dock. Broots, I need you to take care of the cameras, put them on a feedback loop so no one will notice. I'll tell Crowley that I forgot a sample on my desk and ask him to fetch it. Here are my keys with the plate number, when I give you the signal, get out of the cart and into my car. I'll make up an excuse and follow after you."

"Thanks Sydney," Jarod said with a wide smile. Turning to Angelo, he embraced his friend, thanked him sincerely, then quickly got into the cart to await his transport out of the Centre.