p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI woke up in a panic the next morning, the memories of last time I tried to get Five to sleep flooding in suddenly. He didn't even get the chance to tell me what he was doing here, but given how impatient he was, there was a chance he would just jump somewhere else. Another one of our siblings would be a safe bet, but I still didn't know if the rest of them were in Dallas. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFive being here emdid /emgive me hope./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThankfully, when I carefully pushed open the door to the guest room, I found him fast asleep, wrapped up in the thick blankets provided. I found myself smiling as I looked down at him before I shut the door again. He genuinely just looked like a little kid there, and not an old man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It provided some much-needed comfort./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFor the time being, I decided to just let Five have his rest. If he was still asleep now, he clearly needed it. In the meantime, I got to straightening up a little and preparing myself some breakfast. It'd be good to leave enough for Five, just in case he wanted any. Most of the time, though, he just had coffee for breakfast, and that somehow tied him over. I tried my best not to pass my criticisms, given that he'd been through so much, but I think he often forgot in body, he was still 13./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRight as the pot of coffee was finishing brewing, my phone rang, cutting through the sizzling, popping, and gurgling of breakfast. Completely forgetting the events of last night, I wiped my hands and strode over, picking up the phone without apprehension./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hello?" For a moment, there was silence on the other end, before a familiar voice started speaking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"Mina? This is Robert Codere." /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI froze. Robert was the husband of the woman who opened and ran the dance studio. They handled a lot of the business aspects of the place together, but we still saw him pretty frequently. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAnd he emnever /emmade calls over the weekend./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"How can I help you, Robert?" My voice shook a little, but I tried not to let that bother me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"Look, there's no easy way to say this, so I'll…" /emHe cut himself off, as though he didn't feel he owed me an explanation. em"We received some calls to the house last night from dancers of yours, claiming they'd seen you at one of those establishments for—" /emOnce again, he didn't finish his sentence. em"I'm sure you know."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yes, sir," I growled, my fear slowly boiling into rage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"We just think there may be several people who wouldn't be comfortable working with someone… like you. Not to mention we have the studio's reputation to think about." /emI supposed he wanted me to ask what he was saying, but I refused to give him that. Not after the way he said 'like you'. em"We're going to let you go. Please turn in your keys to the studio by the end of next week."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"With that, the other line clicked, leaving me with an unceremonious and unjust firing. Part of me had expected this after last night, but that didn't make it any more infuriating. The assurance that things were more fair where we came from did absolutely nothing for me, because this was still happening here and now. How someone could possibly consider treating someone different just because of their identity would never make sense to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI made an attempt to collect myself and shake things off, when I heard creaking on the stairs. My eyes followed Five as he made his way down the stairs, still looking slightly exhausted. He only looked to me for a moment before his brow furrowed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What happened?" I laughed a little, forgetting that he knew exactly what every little tick of my face meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I just got fired," I sighed, "because I'm a lesbian in 1960s Dallas." Five paused for a moment, thinking things over, before he shrugged./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If they fired you for a reason as stupid as that, then they're idiots."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEven with his deadpan delivery, Five still made me smile as he made his way into the kitchen, his nose practically guiding him as the aroma of freshly roasted and brewed coffee lured him over with its gentle siren song. He stared at the pot for a moment, then turned to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I thought you hated coffee." I leaned against the counter and started to plate the food./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I do. But I still had the guy at the store give me the best stuff they had… just in case I ever needed it." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Finally, that brought a little smile to his face, which lingered as he poured the coffee and we sat down. There was a moment of awkward staring, one of us daring the other to speak first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So, how'd you find me?" I inquired, taking a bite of food./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I found your address in the phonebook," he stated bluntly. "When I got here, you weren't home, so I figured I'd just wait a bit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, but—not to make it seem like there was pressure or anything—why didn't you come find me sooner?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I just got here." I paused in my movements, fully registering what Five had just said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Wait, what? How is that possible?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"From what I can tell, when we jumped, all of us got scattered. So far, it looks like all of us are in Dallas, but we got dropped in different times."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"'All of us?'" My anger from earlier was starting to fall away the more I talked to Five./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Luther and Diego are here, just spread out. I haven't been able to track the others down, but I met someone who saw all of us land and took pictures of us, so I know they're around here somewhere." That was better than nothing. At least everyone was in Dallas. "I tried to explain things to the two of them, but they just dismissed it. They're more worried about their own shit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Things?" Slowly, Five set his mug down and looked me right in the eyes, startling me a little./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The end of the world followed us back here, Mina. In nine days, a nuclear doomsday is going to hit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanMy brain went completely blank for a moment, until bunches of questions started flooding in. Each of them was fighting to be the first one out of my mouth, causing it to just hang open as I blinked rapidly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The hell do you mean it followed us?" I demanded. "This isn't some lost puppy, it's a concept. How does it follow?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Jesus Christ, Mina. I don't know." There was a bit of snippiness in his voice, but I could tell he was trying his best to control it. "All I know is we have to figure out how it happens and stop it."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Great," I sighed. "So it's the same thing, just in 1963, and with nukes instead of Vanya shooting the moon." Once I said it out loud, I realized how dismissive that sounded, so I quickly backtracked. "That means we've already got a leg up. We've done this before, we can do it again."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFollowing that reassurance, I noticed Five watching me eat curiously. It didn't take much to figure out why, and although he was probably a little scared to ask, I didn't mind talking about it. A lot had changed since we'd last seen each other./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"When I landed in 1961, I met this woman, and she noticed that I didn't exactly look… healthy. She took me in and helped me out as much as she could. Her sister had been through something pretty similar, and they managed to help her out without sending her to one of those terrible institutions, so they knew a lot about what to do. I was pretty impressed. And I haven't had a relapse yet, so I'm taking that as a huge win." I took a shaky breath, my next set of words not as easy as the last. "Eventually, she went off and… got married to some guy, so she just left this place for me. It's not technically legal, but at least I have somewhere to live."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" At a few points in that conversation, my voice wavered. Five knew what that meant, I understood that much right now, but I just wasn't ready to talk about things yet. It definitely wasn't the healthiest thing to hold onto the memories I left out for this long, but there wasn't someone around here I could open up to… until now, of course./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "I'm glad you're better, Mina," Five muttered. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long." I reached over and squeezed his arm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What matters is you're here now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs we continued to eat, my thoughts wandered back to last night, and I found myself worrying about Kate. She said to call if there was trouble, but… I just had to make sure she was okay. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I have to make a quick phone call," I explained as I picked up my now empty plate and set it in the sink. "And I need a shower."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Elliott's waiting for me to come back." Before I could ask, he cut back in. "He's the one that took all the pictures of us. He's trying to help track everyone down." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Translation: we needed to leave soon./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Give me, like 15 minutes?" He nodded, pouring himself his second mug of coffee./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI made my way over to the phone and dialed Kate's number, my leg bouncing as I waited. Thankfully, after only a few rings, the line clicked, and Kate's southern belle drawl came through the other end./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem"Hello?" /emShe sounded wary, likely because of the events of last night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Kate, it's Mina." I could hear clattering on the other, likely the sound of her swiping away the pen and paper she kept near her phone so she could lean against it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Mina. Thank God," /emKate sighed. em"Is everything all right?"/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yeah, yeah, I just…" I smiled. "Crazy story, when I came home last night, my brother was waiting here for me."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"The little one?" /emKate sounded so excited, despite never having met any of my family. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yup. He's in the kitchen right now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" Right as I was about to launch into talking about work, Five appeared from the kitchen with a mug in his hand and tapped his wrist. Though I wanted to be able to stop and talk to Kate, I understood a doomsday kind of took precedence over the petty little things that would become irrelevant when we inevitably went back to 2019. After all, we didn't come from this time. That had to at least have something to do with this apocalypse scenario./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" And then, like a dust cloud at the end of a storm, the reality of this situation's ending settled, and I realized this might be the last time I ever talked to Kate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" I had to get a goodbye in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Mina? Are you sure you're okay, darlin'? You've gone quiet." /emI cleared my throat, attempting to compose myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Yeah, sorry, I just… I have to deal with a family thing now, so this might be the last time I talk to you in, well, a long while. So I just wanted to say thanks for being such a supportive, wonderful friend. You changed my life, and I really mean that. Thank you for being… well, you. And don't give up hope. I have a feeling things are going to get better for us in the future." Kate remained quiet, and for a moment, I thought I'd maybe scared her off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"You go out there and do what you need to do, Mina," /emshe encouraged, her voice perking right up again. em"Be with your family. You've definitely earned it. I guess I'll see you when I see you."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yeah. Thanks again for everything."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Goodbye and good luck, Mina."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Goodbye and good luck, Kate."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" Not even a second after I hung up, I whipped around and started to run up the stairs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Just give me ten minutes to shower and change, and then we're out of here!" I shouted down to Five. "I promise!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "I left a mug of tea on the counter!" he called up. I paused in my steps, taking in the kindness of that gesture for a moment. Five was angry and snippy most of the time, but sometimes, he showed how much he cared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "It's great to have you back, little brother," I smiled, leaning over the railing. I expected him to get offended by the 'little' comment, but he just smiled back at me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "It's great to have you back, too, sis."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFive being here emdid /emgive me hope./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThankfully, when I carefully pushed open the door to the guest room, I found him fast asleep, wrapped up in the thick blankets provided. I found myself smiling as I looked down at him before I shut the door again. He genuinely just looked like a little kid there, and not an old man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It provided some much-needed comfort./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFor the time being, I decided to just let Five have his rest. If he was still asleep now, he clearly needed it. In the meantime, I got to straightening up a little and preparing myself some breakfast. It'd be good to leave enough for Five, just in case he wanted any. Most of the time, though, he just had coffee for breakfast, and that somehow tied him over. I tried my best not to pass my criticisms, given that he'd been through so much, but I think he often forgot in body, he was still 13./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRight as the pot of coffee was finishing brewing, my phone rang, cutting through the sizzling, popping, and gurgling of breakfast. Completely forgetting the events of last night, I wiped my hands and strode over, picking up the phone without apprehension./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hello?" For a moment, there was silence on the other end, before a familiar voice started speaking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"Mina? This is Robert Codere." /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI froze. Robert was the husband of the woman who opened and ran the dance studio. They handled a lot of the business aspects of the place together, but we still saw him pretty frequently. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAnd he emnever /emmade calls over the weekend./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"How can I help you, Robert?" My voice shook a little, but I tried not to let that bother me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"Look, there's no easy way to say this, so I'll…" /emHe cut himself off, as though he didn't feel he owed me an explanation. em"We received some calls to the house last night from dancers of yours, claiming they'd seen you at one of those establishments for—" /emOnce again, he didn't finish his sentence. em"I'm sure you know."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yes, sir," I growled, my fear slowly boiling into rage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem"We just think there may be several people who wouldn't be comfortable working with someone… like you. Not to mention we have the studio's reputation to think about." /emI supposed he wanted me to ask what he was saying, but I refused to give him that. Not after the way he said 'like you'. em"We're going to let you go. Please turn in your keys to the studio by the end of next week."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"With that, the other line clicked, leaving me with an unceremonious and unjust firing. Part of me had expected this after last night, but that didn't make it any more infuriating. The assurance that things were more fair where we came from did absolutely nothing for me, because this was still happening here and now. How someone could possibly consider treating someone different just because of their identity would never make sense to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI made an attempt to collect myself and shake things off, when I heard creaking on the stairs. My eyes followed Five as he made his way down the stairs, still looking slightly exhausted. He only looked to me for a moment before his brow furrowed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What happened?" I laughed a little, forgetting that he knew exactly what every little tick of my face meant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I just got fired," I sighed, "because I'm a lesbian in 1960s Dallas." Five paused for a moment, thinking things over, before he shrugged./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If they fired you for a reason as stupid as that, then they're idiots."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEven with his deadpan delivery, Five still made me smile as he made his way into the kitchen, his nose practically guiding him as the aroma of freshly roasted and brewed coffee lured him over with its gentle siren song. He stared at the pot for a moment, then turned to me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I thought you hated coffee." I leaned against the counter and started to plate the food./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I do. But I still had the guy at the store give me the best stuff they had… just in case I ever needed it." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Finally, that brought a little smile to his face, which lingered as he poured the coffee and we sat down. There was a moment of awkward staring, one of us daring the other to speak first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So, how'd you find me?" I inquired, taking a bite of food./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I found your address in the phonebook," he stated bluntly. "When I got here, you weren't home, so I figured I'd just wait a bit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, but—not to make it seem like there was pressure or anything—why didn't you come find me sooner?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I just got here." I paused in my movements, fully registering what Five had just said./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Wait, what? How is that possible?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"From what I can tell, when we jumped, all of us got scattered. So far, it looks like all of us are in Dallas, but we got dropped in different times."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"'All of us?'" My anger from earlier was starting to fall away the more I talked to Five./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Luther and Diego are here, just spread out. I haven't been able to track the others down, but I met someone who saw all of us land and took pictures of us, so I know they're around here somewhere." That was better than nothing. At least everyone was in Dallas. "I tried to explain things to the two of them, but they just dismissed it. They're more worried about their own shit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Things?" Slowly, Five set his mug down and looked me right in the eyes, startling me a little./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The end of the world followed us back here, Mina. In nine days, a nuclear doomsday is going to hit."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanMy brain went completely blank for a moment, until bunches of questions started flooding in. Each of them was fighting to be the first one out of my mouth, causing it to just hang open as I blinked rapidly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The hell do you mean it followed us?" I demanded. "This isn't some lost puppy, it's a concept. How does it follow?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Jesus Christ, Mina. I don't know." There was a bit of snippiness in his voice, but I could tell he was trying his best to control it. "All I know is we have to figure out how it happens and stop it."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Great," I sighed. "So it's the same thing, just in 1963, and with nukes instead of Vanya shooting the moon." Once I said it out loud, I realized how dismissive that sounded, so I quickly backtracked. "That means we've already got a leg up. We've done this before, we can do it again."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFollowing that reassurance, I noticed Five watching me eat curiously. It didn't take much to figure out why, and although he was probably a little scared to ask, I didn't mind talking about it. A lot had changed since we'd last seen each other./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"When I landed in 1961, I met this woman, and she noticed that I didn't exactly look… healthy. She took me in and helped me out as much as she could. Her sister had been through something pretty similar, and they managed to help her out without sending her to one of those terrible institutions, so they knew a lot about what to do. I was pretty impressed. And I haven't had a relapse yet, so I'm taking that as a huge win." I took a shaky breath, my next set of words not as easy as the last. "Eventually, she went off and… got married to some guy, so she just left this place for me. It's not technically legal, but at least I have somewhere to live."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" At a few points in that conversation, my voice wavered. Five knew what that meant, I understood that much right now, but I just wasn't ready to talk about things yet. It definitely wasn't the healthiest thing to hold onto the memories I left out for this long, but there wasn't someone around here I could open up to… until now, of course./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "I'm glad you're better, Mina," Five muttered. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long." I reached over and squeezed his arm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What matters is you're here now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs we continued to eat, my thoughts wandered back to last night, and I found myself worrying about Kate. She said to call if there was trouble, but… I just had to make sure she was okay. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I have to make a quick phone call," I explained as I picked up my now empty plate and set it in the sink. "And I need a shower."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Elliott's waiting for me to come back." Before I could ask, he cut back in. "He's the one that took all the pictures of us. He's trying to help track everyone down." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Translation: we needed to leave soon./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Give me, like 15 minutes?" He nodded, pouring himself his second mug of coffee./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI made my way over to the phone and dialed Kate's number, my leg bouncing as I waited. Thankfully, after only a few rings, the line clicked, and Kate's southern belle drawl came through the other end./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem"Hello?" /emShe sounded wary, likely because of the events of last night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Kate, it's Mina." I could hear clattering on the other, likely the sound of her swiping away the pen and paper she kept near her phone so she could lean against it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Mina. Thank God," /emKate sighed. em"Is everything all right?"/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yeah, yeah, I just…" I smiled. "Crazy story, when I came home last night, my brother was waiting here for me."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"The little one?" /emKate sounded so excited, despite never having met any of my family. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yup. He's in the kitchen right now."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" Right as I was about to launch into talking about work, Five appeared from the kitchen with a mug in his hand and tapped his wrist. Though I wanted to be able to stop and talk to Kate, I understood a doomsday kind of took precedence over the petty little things that would become irrelevant when we inevitably went back to 2019. After all, we didn't come from this time. That had to at least have something to do with this apocalypse scenario./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" And then, like a dust cloud at the end of a storm, the reality of this situation's ending settled, and I realized this might be the last time I ever talked to Kate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" I had to get a goodbye in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Mina? Are you sure you're okay, darlin'? You've gone quiet." /emI cleared my throat, attempting to compose myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Yeah, sorry, I just… I have to deal with a family thing now, so this might be the last time I talk to you in, well, a long while. So I just wanted to say thanks for being such a supportive, wonderful friend. You changed my life, and I really mean that. Thank you for being… well, you. And don't give up hope. I have a feeling things are going to get better for us in the future." Kate remained quiet, and for a moment, I thought I'd maybe scared her off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"You go out there and do what you need to do, Mina," /emshe encouraged, her voice perking right up again. em"Be with your family. You've definitely earned it. I guess I'll see you when I see you."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Yeah. Thanks again for everything."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" em"Goodbye and good luck, Mina."/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;""Goodbye and good luck, Kate."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" Not even a second after I hung up, I whipped around and started to run up the stairs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "Just give me ten minutes to shower and change, and then we're out of here!" I shouted down to Five. "I promise!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "I left a mug of tea on the counter!" he called up. I paused in my steps, taking in the kindness of that gesture for a moment. Five was angry and snippy most of the time, but sometimes, he showed how much he cared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "It's great to have you back, little brother," I smiled, leaning over the railing. I expected him to get offended by the 'little' comment, but he just smiled back at me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" "It's great to have you back, too, sis."/span/p