Amelia Watson is sick. She wouldn't tell anyone, of course – unlike her, they have limited time to spend each day. But as she lays in bed sniffling and biting back the urge to vomit, she really, really wishes she had some kind of company.

There's a knock on her bedroom door. She freezes and holds her breath, before slowly moving her arm our from under the covers to reach for her golden watch on the nightstand next to her. How is someone in my apartment? The front door is locked!

The door opens before she can grab it and in walks... herself.

She stares and there's an awkward silence. Other her is wearing her usual detective clothes and has this small smile, an amused look in her eyes at Amelia's reaction. The amount of times Amelia had directly interacted with another version of herself could be counted on one hand, and they were never for long. Only in dire situations. It felt too dangerous, too uncomfortable, too confusing. She tried to never stay in the same space and time she had already been if she could help it. And considering she has no recollection of visiting herself while sick, well, this must be her in the future, the detective part of her brain says.

"Hey." Future her says after a moment, "I know this is awkward, but I remember being sick and being helped by myself, so... I kinda have to do that."

Amelia starts breathing again and coughs, sitting up. The action makes her feel dizzy, but laying down just makes her feel more awkward.

"Uh. This is kinda..."

"Weird?" Future her finishes, grinning. "Yeah, I thought so too." She taps her foot in thought. "I know you're feeling pretty crappy, so if you need anything I'm here, alright?" She looks up, thinking. "What was it I did for me first? Soup? I think it was soup." She laughs a bit, looking back at Amelia. "Want me to get some?"

Amelia keeps staring. She knows she should say something, but is too in shock about the situation. To think she'd go meet her past self over something so mundane. Her head hurts just thinking about the implications of this. "That – that'd be nice, I guess?" She places a palm on her forehead. "I mean, if that's what you ended up doing, you should- do it again?" Her headache was getting worse trying to comprehend this.

Other her still has that amused look in her eyes."Yeah, I'll be right back." She moves to leave the room, but looks back in as she closes the door a bit slower. Her expression has softened. "I'll help you feel better, alright?"

The door clicks shut. Amelia slides back down into bed. "What just happened?" She whispers, closing her eyes.

The door opens a couple minutes later and there's a tray with soup on it in future Amelia's hands. She gently lays it on the bed and Amelia slowly sits up again. Neither says anything while she takes the spoon next to the bowl and scoops some broth, steam floating into the air. She blows on it gently and awkwardly tries to keep from looking at her other self too much. Amelia drinks the soup. It's hot, and feels heavenly for her scratchy throat. She breathes out slowly. "Where did you get this? I don't remember buying any soup."

"I went to the grocery store. They were sold out so I had to travel to tomorrow. They have a sale on like the whole fruit section that day, by the way."

Amelia laughs a little. "Good to know." She scoops another spoonful of soup. Curiosity finally overriding her feelings of awkwardness, she sneaks a glance at her future self. She takes note of little behaviours she never realized she had. Tapping two left fingers on her right arm while waiting. Glancing to the side periodically to ensure her surroundings are safe. Habits she'd never realize on her own that she did. Other her sees her staring and snickers. "Like what you see?"

Amelia drops her spoon and nearly face plants into the soup in embarrassment. "Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that!" Future her laughs genuinely. "Is it that weird?" Amelia puts her face in her hands. "This is so very weird."

"Yeah," Other her stuffs her hands in her pockets. "It kinda is. You'll get used to it, though. This isn't the last time you're gonna end up meeting yourself."

Amelia chooses to not contemplate that statement and they both go silent for a while longer. Amelia eventually continues drinking the soup slowly.

She lets her mind drift to other things, anything other than the situation she's in right now. Work to do, cases to solve, grocery store sales in the future, and her plans for the week.

"Shoot, I planned to hang out with Gura and Ina today." She says quietly to herself. "I can't believe they haven't texted me about it yet."

Future waves her off and responds, "Don't worry, you end up traveling back later to hang out with them when you're feeling better. You're probably already there as we speak." That gets Amelia to rub her head again. "Y'know, I never really stopped to think about the implications of going back to times I've already been in." Her head throbs and she winces. "For good reason, I guess."

"Want some painkillers?" Future her offers.

"Sure." Amelia holds her head while future her leaves. She returns after a bit and hands a couple pills and a glass of water to Amelia.

"Thanks." Amelia swallows the pills and drinks the whole glass of water, then sets it down on the tray and asks a question that had been lingering in her mind. "How far in the future are you from?"

Future her pauses for a moment, seeming to consider how to answer the question, and then shrugs. "A few years. I wanted to wait until I forgot the details of what happened so that they'd happen naturally, instead of me trying to remember every tiny thing."

"Hmm..." Amelia continues drinking her soup.

"Actually, that reminds me." Future her pulls out the golden pocket watch. Amelia glances at her nightstand to see her own watch still there, only briefly questioning what it means to have a duplicate of the device that lets you travel through time before looking back and seeing the empty chair next to her. She blinks, and then future her is back, holding a calendar. "Here, I wrote on today's date that you're sick and have to go help yourself. Make sure not to lose it." Future her grins. "Well, actually, you lose it once, and when you find it again that's how you remember to come here." Amelia just stares for a moment. Future her puts the calendar on the nightstand next to her watch.

"...I think, I'm going to wait until I don't have a fever, and then try and sort out how all of this works."

Future her looks to the side and has that amused smile again. "Have fun with that." Amelia wonders just what in the world she means by that with a furrowed brow.

"God that's annoyingly cryptic. Is this how everyone else feels when I talk about the future to them?" She huffs indignantly. Future her snickers. "I'd say it's pretty fun. Don't worry, you'll be on the other end of this soon enough." Amelia laughs and shakes her head, loosening up about all this. With the shock wearing off, she realizes she's actually enjoying the bizarre situation of hanging out with... herself. Maybe she really would have fun with sorting this out. It's her turn to have an amused smirk.


Future her doesn't stay the entire day, but leaves after an hour with the excuse of 'needing to wash Bubba'. As if she couldn't just travel back to the exact point she needed to whenever. She shows up again the next day and it's more of the same. Amelia finds herself looking forwards to it, but other her only stays for about half an hour before getting up to go again.

"What, not staying longer? You're great company, you know."

Future her's eyes shine. "Don't worry, you'll see me again. Depending on how you look at things." She shrugs. "Hell, you'll be me soon enough, strange as that is to say." Amelia finds herself looking forwards to being on the other end of this situation. "Definitely gonna do some investigating on that one."

Future her laughs and pulls out her watch. "Yeah you will. Don't terrorize yourself too much, alright? And you're gonna be visited by yourself again before you visit you. That's just how this works." She waves. "See ya." Amelia waves goodbye as her future self disappears. Her eyes shine with a tad of mischief. "I think this is going to be very, very fun."