Thomas split the timelines. The first thing he did, as always, was separate his physical body. Having two timelines was of no help if they were both next to each other when something destroyed the area.

In one, he drove to work.

In the other, he remained at home.

That was another weakness. If he dropped the timeline that he was using to work, it would raise questions. Too many absences triggered automatic checks that could be… troublesome.

It was one reason he often merged timelines and resplit them. A gap of four hours was easier to explain than a gap of one day.

But this gap, win or lose, would only be a few hours. At home, he went over intelligence reports and documents. He planned to drop this timeline, but the information would remain. At work, he would monitor his actual operation.

"Calvert," Renick said. "Ready for the briefing to the media?"

"Of course," Thomas told him. "We wouldn't want to leave the sharks without some food, would we?"

"That's the spirit," Renick said. "Better you than me."

Thomas chuckled. After this, he'd dedicate a throwaway timeline to shooting Renick a few times for forcing him to listen to those idiots.

His phone chirped, and Thomas looked at it. "Great," he muttered. "There's a problem with my car. I'm going to have to check out."

"Don't worry," Renick said. "You've always got your ducks in a row."

If only you knew.

Thomas checked out and got into his loaner.

After all, only an idiot would claim a problem at the garage and not have a problem at the garage.

"Talk to me," he said, using a second, tinkertech phone.

"We've tracked the target," his captain said. "We've also got the special munitions."

"Understood, use them only if absolutely necessary."

They had been expensive, purchased from a branch of the Elite operating out of New York. Evidently, they'd managed to obtain the services of a bomb tinker.

Thomas had purchased several grenades, along with underslung launchers for them. Expensive, but worth it.

Whether or not Bastard Son knew wasn't an issue Thomas was concerned with. He turned away and started driving to the garage. It was on the far side of town, giving him an excuse to take his time.

Not an excuse that he could use very often, but a precog was worth it. The investment in the various hospitals had paid off in spades.

Granted, none of them remembered being bribed, but the information was still good, and it left no evidence behind.

"The target has left the park. She's running. Sir, I think she has a destination in mind."

"Understood. She is to be captured unharmed at all costs."

"Yes sir. She's… She's stopped. We're exiting the van."

"Understood." Thomas waited, merging into the fast lane. There was no sound for a few moments, and then the team leader came back.

"We've secured her sir."

"Any difficulty?"

"No sir, she seems to be in pain. She's saying the numbers said that she could fight us if she stopped here. She's… confused."

"Give her the sedative."

"Yes—HOLY SHIT!"

Thomas almost put his car into a light pole at the scream. "What is it?" There was nothing, but he could hear shooting.

"DRIVE, DAMMIT DRIVE!" the leader came back. "Sorry sir, we ran into the Teeth. I think that's what she was talking about. Probably showed up a little later than she wanted them to." The man was panting. "But ah, we had to use some of the special munitions…"

"What effect did they have?"

"Turned an entire damned car into glass, along with whoever was in it." The man took a deep breath. "They all took off after that, so I bet they had a cape in the car and didn't expect them to be taken out."

Thomas split the timeline. In one, he ordered them to return to base, in the other, he ordered them to drive in a random pattern. The Teeth didn't have any thinkers, but it paid to be cautious.

In the first timeline, Thomas turned and drove for his base, giving the signs and countersigns as he descended into the base. In the second, he continued on to the garage where he sat down and picked up an old magazine, reading while they worked on his car.

Thomas quickly donned his costume and headed into the main body of the base, accepting the salutes of his men. "How is she Mr. Pitter?" Thomas asked as he entered the infirmary.

"She's…" Mr. Pitter frowned, looking down at the brown-haired girl. "Are you certain they gave her the right dosage?"

Thomas looked up at his men, and they nodded.

"I have full faith in my men, why?"

"Because she's waking up. She should be asleep until I administer the antagonist."

"Well, it's possible her power is interacting with the drug," Thomas said.

That would be annoying. He had intended to control her with drugs.

Well, there were always other methods.

"Hello, Pet," Thomas said as the girl looked up at him. "My name is Coil and I think you and I—"

"Shut up!" she said.

Thomas blinked. "Young lady, that is—"

"Not you, them!" Dinah looked around, eyes wild. "This isn't what I meant! I wanted to get away!"

"I—" then Thomas' mind went into reset as she pulled her arms free of the restraints, effortlessly tearing through the tough fabric.

"He—" one the guards stepped forward, and she glared at him, before he went down, screaming.

"I can—I can see your blood, no, no, no-Yes!" Then she looked at Thomas. "You were the one, the reason you—"

Thomas dropped the timeline moments before a small fist punched through his face.

What the fuck… He split the timeline, in one getting up and running out of the garage. "Report!" he shouted into the headset. "Keep the girl sedated at all—" Hysterical screams sounded in his ears.

In his other timeline, nobody even replied.

She's saying the numbers said that she could fight us… Not run away, fight.

But an 11-year-old girl couldn't fight mercenaries. Not unless say…

They had killed the butcher in that fight and the Butcher had jumped to her. Thomas started giggling. He'd put together the trap, and her precognitive sense had probably warned her that she couldn't escape, and she'd tried to find a way to fight.

But she was just a stupid little girl, and stopped when the power, however it worked, told her she could fight back and never asked how.

"You okay, man?" the mechanic asked.

Thomas turned around and emptied his service pistol into the man's face. He managed to burn through two clips before The BBPD showed up. He dropped it and split the other timeline.

What the fuck do I do? His precog, the girl who was going to make him invincible, had managed to get herself taken by the Butcher.

And then a much worse thought hit. Only one faction in town used skilled troops… And that precog now had fourteen raging voices in her head with enough experience that they'd probably figure that out right away.

Thomas didn't curse. There really weren't any words good enough for the current situation.