Hey everyone,
With this chapter we are going to cover a few more consequences of what happened in chapter 05. Oh, and I am going to take another step towards the whole thing with the new Time Shifter. I'm not entirely sure for how long I am going to let that storyline run, but I do have plans in that regard. Oh, and those plans don't involve bringing the Shifter back to the land of time. Though other shifters will also play roles in the story from time to time.
Okay enough hinting,

Venquine1990

Chapter 14
Discussing The Past And The Future

7th of May 2418
Time Bureau HQ
Merlock's POV

Sarah. Ever since I came home on Monday she was constantly on my mind. The only way I could get my work done was by putting on a headset, playing romantic songs and pretending that it was my Sarah singing. Thankfully after a few songs I was able to put my full focus on the report I wanted to work on before Wednesday. However, I did discover something else. Without Bindi around, I lost sight of time more easily.
It had been around eleven thirty in the night when I suddenly realized that I was slightly hungry. I hadn't had needed to turn on lights when it was turning dark as I had invested in automatic lighting and heating when I first purchased the property. Because of this I hadn't even realized how much time had passed until suddenly my thirst for some blood had distracted me. And when I had spotted the time, I had felt a little embarrassed.

The next day, I had finished my work on the report and written myself a schedule that I connected to both my phone and my computer. The two both had a speaker function and with the presses of a few buttons I made it so that either device would remind me of my daily tasks from now on, at least until I was used to living on my own again for the first time in almost a year. The notion had made me deeply miss my sweet, pink little friend.
I had also missed Sarah something terrible and had made sure to arrive at the school premises a few minutes before the lunch bell rang. And a few students had spotted me and pleasantly greeted me, I had returned the greeting while eagerly awaiting my One. When Sarah, Tony and Flint exited the building, I had instantly grabbed onto my beloved, pulled her close and sealed her sweet, cherry-tasting lips before she could do more than yelp.

Sarah had needed only a second to realize who I was and she had eagerly returned my kiss, her arms lovingly tight around my neck while mine were firmly wrapped around her waist as I just didn't want to let her go, not unless I absolutely had to. We had taken to a small spot of green under one of the trees on the premises and Sarah had snuggled up to me in my lap while she ate. I myself used a thick plastic water bottle to feed myself.
Tony had joked with me that it had been less than 24 hours and I had jokingly retorted that he should just wait until he had a girlfriend of his own. The brunette had gaped for a moment and then we had all laughed and continued enjoying our lunch. I hadn't told Sarah about my mistake of the other night, but I had lovingly told her about what I had done in regards to music to get myself to work. Sarah had blushed and rewarded me with a peck on the cheek.

Then I had learned something very shocking and also pleasant. Apparently during a dog show the prizes had been switched around at the last minute and the judges hadn't realized it until the awards had been handed out. What's more, one of the dogs actually fit the description I had given my friends, though he had only won second place. The show had been about a month ago. Only there was also bad news, the dog had gone missing since.
I had leaned back at hearing this as Tony had apparently done a bit of research after finishing his homework the other day and learned about it all through that. I had genuinely congratulated the young brunette on his clever way of searching and had considered it a good thing that the critter was in this era as that would make it easier to find him. Flint had also been super happy and relieved, which isn't surprising considering his care for the Shifters.

Lunch break had ended and Sarah and I had shared one last searing kiss as my meeting with Miss Grey on Wednesday was at the same time as her next lunch break. I had gently promised that I would wait for her to finish classes as soon as I was done with my meeting and Sarah had enticed me, telling me that we should take a walk in the park on Wednesday afternoon. I had agreed to this with one last kiss and then left back home.
This time I had spent my time working out, keeping my muscles sharp and strong and going through my regular exercises in the huge basement that covers the better part of the premise. I had, again, worn a headset, listened to romantic music and pretended that the female singers or leads were my beloved Sarah. At the end of my exercises I remembered that Henrietta and Sarah agreed to sing together sometime and I had started to look forward to this event.

By now it's finally Wednesday and finally the time of my meeting. Adam and I meet in front of the HQ building of the Bureau of Time and Space and my Elder instantly notices the state I am in. "Maybe you should suggest that you stay over at their place a little more than just a weekend, little one. It would appear that your desire for your One has taken on a new form. You might want to fix that before it gets out of hand."
His words remind me of the Uglinator and I ask if Sandy had told him about what transpired in the clearing while he was dealing with the Council. To my relief he answers positive and even hugs me as he whispers: "I am so proud of you, little one. With your One and her family present, you took another step towards leaving the past behind you. You cleared your conscience of all guilt that troubled it. That took guts."

I feel touched by his words and warmed by his embrace while we are in the elevator up to Miss Grey's office. We reach the required floor and Adam lets go off me just before the doors open. I guide him to our destination and knock on the metallic doors that conceal the office from sight. The doors open and I enter the same office I have visited twice before now in the last year, once to hand in a rapport and once to resign from my position.
Adam seems intrigued with the round office and even impressed with Miss Grey upon first sight. Instantly I wonder if he perhaps recognized her as another powerful being or not. I ignore this for now and greet Miss Grey in the same way I always do. I step in and grin, my fang sparkling as a sign that I, a being, recognize her, another being, as an equal. Miss Grey does the same and Adam follows our example before I can respond in kind.

This, again, reminds me of Bindi, who broke us up the last time we held a bit of a competition of pleasant kindness and power. I had explained this to the Shifter after the fact and she had felt a little guilty over breaking us up. Yet I had laughed and said that it was only for the better as the last time Miss Grey and I had done this, we had kept going for the entire hour she had time for me and in the end we hadn't gotten any work done.

Adam and I take a seat on one side of the desk Miss Grey is seated in and the woman speaks: "Lord Adam, I welcome you to the Bureau of Space and Time and would like to congratulate you on finding a new Soul Mate. I must say that it is shocking for this One to be the Infamous Petra Fina, but I have a policy of not letting my private life and my professional life mix and I won't ask you to do so either. Though I hope you understand where I'm coming from."
My Elder smiles at the woman in respect and says: "I most certainly do, Miss Grey. And I have much good news to share with you as well as a business deal I would like to discuss with you, if you're interested." Miss Grey may have never really been a woman who carries her heart on her sleeve, yet her intrigue is now clear on her visage. Adam and I share a smile and yet then I decide to leave the bombshells of news for later.
Instead of that I hand the woman my written rapport about what happened on Saturday. The woman gratefully accepts it and inserts it into her computer. She turns her back on us and turns to the huge wide screen set in the wall behind her that stretches across the width of her desk. Her eyes scan over the rapport as she scrolls down the pages. For a few minutes a professional silence lies over the office as Adam and I wait for her to finish.

After about ten minutes the screen turns blank again and Miss Grey turns around. Her eyes are closed and she takes a deep breath before she says: "I must say, Merlock. While I had already received a summarized rapport from Dr. Goodman and while your rapport, like usual, is very professional and objective, it is still quite – apologies for my word choice – unbelievable." I smile at her and say that the whole thing definitely exceeded my expectations.
The woman gives a curt nod of agreement and asks me what I plan to do now. Instantly my protective need to be with my One mixes with my ability to act like a true professional and I answer: "From now on, Miss Grey, I would like to transfer my position within the Time Bureau. I want to stop being an observer of Agent Hammerhead and become his partner.
I want to simply continue being informed if he has another mission to attend to, but from now I want to be informed as his partner on the mission, not as an observer." Miss Grey gives another curt nod, yet this time a warm smile is on her face as she says that she will see it done. I gratefully smile back at her and request that I be the one to inform the team once the transfer has been completed. The woman agrees to this request as well.

I lean back in my seat and turn to Adam as a silent sign that I will leave the rest of the meeting to my Elder. The tall, muscular vampire sends me a smile of pride and then turns to Miss Grey. And instantly the Leader of the Clan shows his face once again as he starts to speak: "Miss Grey, allow me to give you a full rapport of what transpired at the HQ of the Council. As you know, the council called upon all of us to congregate on Saturday last.
Instead of that, because of all of the research that my Youngest had done for the sake of the clan and with the help of Unita-Master, I travelled to the HQ myself. Pterry, the robot pterodactyl aide and guide of Dr. Goodman accompanied as we had already deduced that the witch, who we were sure was also present, would need to have her memories removed if she were to take her place in the 17th century, where I remembered encountering her.

We reached the HQ through the portal that Unita-Master created and thankfully the location of the Council ensured that the street itself was deserted. This allowed Wing to wing-dart me without anyone seeing, though at the same time my unease grew at the idea that the Council wanted to revive Operation Broodmare. Pterry and Wing then hid themselves around the doorway of the front door, which I left deliberately open for this purpose.
When I entered, the better portion of the huge storage room that the Council had apparently settled down in was covered in a thick blanket of darkness. Needless to say, this further confirmed my beliefs that there might be a witch hiding somewhere in the shadows. I approached the Council, who were basked in the only lights turned on in the whole room and they asked me where the others were. I answered truthfully before Bubblegum and Mosbee struck.
As Elder I ordered them to stay put. I am their Leader, not you – and not some hidden witch with delusions created by her unstable mind. You lot really should have remembered what happens when a witch becomes the last of her kind. I will not allow her to hurt my kind just because you are too easily swayed by her sweet words and young age. By the time I finished speaking, Mosbee had frozen her lower half and Bubblegum had encased her."

On one hand I feel sure that, if they were to find out about this, Tony and Flint are going to be quite jealous of me for learning about this before them. On the other I wonder what about this story might have made Pterry decide to postpone his rapport until later. Then suddenly Adam's face turns dismayed and instantly I realize that I am about to find out. "Tell me, Miss Grey, what do you know about a young woman named Eliza Grodginger?"
Because I have known Jillian for the last two centuries I already know the answer as the name sounds just foreign to me. And Miss Grey proves this as she confirms my thoughts and then guesses that that is the witch's name. Adam nods to confirm this and then he makes everything make sense. "It is – and she was also the childhood friend of our own little Sarah Goodman. Pterry recognized her after she had been caught in Bubblegum's bubble."

Miss Grey and I both stare at the man and I remember what he told me on Monday. He knows that hearing this will hurt your One even more. When he speaks, make sure you are there for her. Then Adam continues. "Apparently young Sarah and Miss Grodginger had been friends since they were three years old. Miss Grodginger was even there for young Sarah when the latter lost her parents, even though neither really understood what had happened.
The two even had birthdays that were quite close to each other in date, only two weeks apart. Yet then suddenly, the day before young Sarah's 14th birthday, Eliza moved away and never left a note or even an explanation or anything. Unfortunately the age makes sense as witches start developing their magic around that very age. And over the last two years, due to the deaths of Maryland and Ebony, she has been falling victim to Last Irrationality."

I listen to my Elder's words and as he speaks, a sense of dread and concern overcomes me when it comes to next weekend. I sent a silent prayer out to my beloved as Adam continues. "I hate to say it, but while she gazed at me, it was obvious that the witch was truly gone. And when she spotted Pterry and realized what his presence meant, she went ballistic. She spoke words about the Goodmans that I won't repeat as I am done feeling like that.
Thankfully, in the end, it was also Pterry that convinced our little witch to go with our plan. He may have used a bit of an underhanded technique as he guilt-tripped her with the last time she had hurt her former friend, but in this case I believe that the ends justify the means. And hearing about the pain she had caused her friend had indeed gotten through to her. She even answered negative when Pterry called her out on her previous words.

We had traveled to the 17th century and for a moment I had just wanted to use my Hypnotic powers, make it so that she would only remember the good times in her sleep and not any other time. But Pterry talked me out of this. She'd be remembering times she can never relive. She'd be wanting for something she can never have. We can't do that to her. You need to let me just erase her whole memory. It's only right after how she suffered.
He told me and I realized that he was right. And while we were a while away from the village, it was obvious that the presence of her sisters near was already affecting little Eliza. She had a look of calm acceptance on her face that hadn't been there before. And before Pterry erased her last memories, she even sent the both of us one last grateful smile. After this I hypnotized her to ensure she would fake falling from the right tree and we left.

I must say it was a bit of a sight to see my 700 year old self, but at the same time I was relieved to see visual evidence of how much good it had done me to stay in that village at the time." Adam smiles in a bit of a melancholy manner, yet his words remind me of a realization I had made over the weekend. And so I sit up and with my back firm, I say: "Miss Grey, I would like a Time Card for the year 1463, specifically around the end of May of that year."
Miss Grey looks shocked and confused, yet Adam's shock is quickly replaced with concern as he asks me if I'm sure. I nod, yet I don't look at him, I keep my gaze firmly planted upon Miss Grey. The woman asks me if I have any reason for this kind of Time Card and I curtly answer: "I want to leave the past behind me. I am done being haunted by those blasted flames. I have found my One and with that my future. I won't let my past be a hurdle in that."
Miss Grey turns to Adam and the man stares at me for a moment longer before he instructs me that I won't be going alone. I accept this, yet a strong part of me still debates on whether or not I will take Sarah with me. Nevertheless I know that Adam didn't mean my One and sheer relief fills me from within at the knowledge that my Elder will be helping me when I leave. And the man's instructions also convince Miss Grey as she nods acceptance.

Silence lies over the office for a few moments longer and then Adam again turns to Miss Grey as he says: "Onto other matters. Miss Grey, before the witch, Unita-Master, Pterry, the other Time Shifters and I left for the 17th century, I gave the council one chance to change their minds and drop the plans for Operation Broodmare. They refused, so I cancelled the entirety of the Council's existence. However, before I left, I assured the other members.
You see, there were also feeders, hunters and id-providers present in the room and I assured them that I would find them an organization through which they could continue their noble work at earliest convenience, granted on the notion that they would never agree on plans such as Operation Broodmare. And seeing as how these people did more for my Clan than the Council or I myself, I feel honor bound to make this a priority."
Miss Grey nods and I notice her red eyes shining with pride and admiration for the man's words. She suggests that Adam desires for the Time Bureau to hire the workers and yet Adam shakes his head and says: "I would like for you and I to work together to make them like a sub-department of the Bureau. They will still, to an extent, be their own organization as this gives them the right of professional privacy, but they will answer to us both."

And then Adam drops a bombshell on Jillian, one that made him have to keep me from falling out of the tree we were in on Monday as he says: "And the same – will count for my One, my Petra. Her encounter with the Dark Lord and our union has cleared her mind and opened her eyes. She has turned her back on the dark and wants to redeem herself. She is currently doing so in her alter-ego, though I won't reveal the identity just yet.
However, she also enjoys the adventures through time too much to give them up, she told me so herself. And she also believes that, if she's no longer there, young Flint won't be pushed to be the Time Detective even she is willing to acknowledge he can be. Because of this, she wants for a similar yet slightly altered situation as my Young One requested. For her to be informed of Flint's missions, but then for them to be her mission as well.
She wants to become his rival, someone who will race with him to get the job done both to the best of their respective ability and the fastest. She has assured me that she is willing to sign a contract and that she will accept an observer, just like Merlock observed Flint up to this point, to ensure that she will both do as said and that she won't accidentally stray from the chosen path or get tempted by the allure of the dark like before."

Miss Grey stares at the man after he finishes his speech for a few minutes and it's obvious that she's having trouble digesting his words in her mind. She turns to me and I shrug as I've had the last two days to get over my own shock. And then I give the woman the only explanation that, to me, makes sense. "Getting your heart broken by a manipulative liar can really change a person." I tell the woman and Miss Grey nods in agreement.
She turns back to Adam and tells him that she would like to meet with him and Petra sometime this weekend to discuss the full terms. Adam nods, yet he asks her not to ask Petra about her alter-ego until the end of June. Miss Grey raises an eyebrow, yet she consents. The two discuss things for a few more minutes and then Adam and I depart. And by now Adam has two more meetings with Miss Grey; one about Petra and one about the workers.
We return to the elevator to take us back to the ground floor and as we wait for the descend, I just can't help myself. I wrap my arms around Adam's waist the way a son would embrace his father and while I fight back tears, I whisper: "So glad to have you back, Elder." Adam's own eyes tear up as well and he returns the sentiment as he pulls me closer against his form and even wraps his cloak around me in the embrace.

Aaaaw, how sweet,
And yes, Merlock deliberately forgot to mention Mischief to Miss Grey. He doesn't think he needs to report it to her as one, the Shifter is somewhere in the present, and two Adam is the son of the Lord of Time and thus a little more directly responsible for the little critters than the Time Bureau. Well, that and like I said earlier, I have plans for the little pupper. And those plans don't necessarily require the Time Bureau,
So yeah,

Venquine1990
PS. Yeah I realized that I forgot about the whole Miss Grey-Dr. Goodman thing. I promise I will come back to that sometime soon.