Chapter 10: Cornered into Confession
"They seemed like nice people," Rhys said to his wife, as he rocked his daughter. "I guess," Gwen shrugged. "I still don't think we should have brought those people down here." She sighed and shook her head. She looked at the view screen. "What is taking so long?" she looked at her watch. "I wouldn't worry about Jack," Rhys stated comfortingly at his wife, shifting the squirming child in his arms. "He can take care of himself," he chuckled.
"It's not Jack I'm worried about!" Gwen spat at her husband. "You're worried about Odessa!?" Rhys gaped. "No…not really -" Gwen lied. Rhys raised his eyebrows. "Okay, fine, yes; I'm worried about her," she admitted. "But only because that there is something about her; something odd," she grumbled. "Admit it, Gwen, you really like that girl," Rhys taunted. Gwen shot her husband a look. "You really like her; you really like her," he sang, smiling broadly.
"Like who?" Jack asked, jumping the last three steps and landing loudly on the cement floor. Gwen breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Are they gone?" she asked Jack, then checked the monitor. "Yes, they're gone; it's just us," Jack smiled, but the smile did not seem to reach his eyes.
"Are you going to be alright, Jack?" Gwen touched his arm. Jack half smiled. "I'm always alright." He patted her hand then brushed it aside, turning his back on her.
"What about you?" Gwen turned to Odessa. Her eyes widened. "What about me?" she asked curiously. "How are you holding up? I mean, with all of this?" Gwen made a sweeping gesture around the Hub. "Fine, I guess," Odessa answered stiffly; she turned her attention to Rhys and the baby. Gwen threw up her hands in frustration and stormed over the nearest computer monitor.
"Um, Odessa…" Rhys posed. Odessa, who had been playing with the baby, looked up at him. "Yes, Rhys?" she asked, looking at him quizzically. "Um …" he dropped his gaze to the floor, afraid to ask his question. "You didn't want to go with those other people? You seemed to know that one man fairly well." Odessa smiled sadly, shaking her head. "No, they had to go someplace and I would have just been in the way."
Rhys nodded once. She blinked twice, hoping he hadn't seen the tears forming in her blue eyes. "Besides," she tried to smile. "Why would I want to leave you guys so soon?" Rhys smiled broadly, his chest puffing out ever-so-slightly.
Odessa smiled knowingly. "But that wasn't what you wanted to ask me, was it?" Rhys blushed and shook his head. Odessa looked at him expectantly. "How did you … you know, know there was someone coming?" he asked, tentatively. "Yeah," Gwen blustered. "How did you know that that guy was coming here?"
Odessa sighed and looked away from the group. "I…" She didn't know how to answer; so she told the truth. "I-I felt him coming…" she spoke quickly, trying to change the subject.
"How, exactly?" Gwen demanded. "It – it's really complicated," Odessa stated. "Oh, okay," Rhys nodded. "Well, uncomplicated it then!" Gwen shot back.
"I mean – well," Odessa stammered, closing her eyes. "He's sort of… I think this may be a story for another time," she smiled.
"Oh, no you don't!" Gwen boomed. "You just can't come in here all sweet and innocent, bat your eyes at Jack and my husband, and have everything be alright!" her eyes narrowed. "Now Gwen…" Rhys soothed. "Not now!" Gwen shot at him; he cowered at her retort. "I have been somewhat patient up until now; but I want answers. Now you are going to talk! You can start by telling me how the hell you were able to see through that perception thing on the lift when you first got here and how you knew that that doctor guy was coming!" Gwen barked angrily. Odessa's eyes were wide. "I –I don't really…" she stammered. She looked at Jack for guidance.
"Don't look at him! You have two choices: START TALKING OR I WILL MAKE YOU TALK!" Gwen hollered, her face growing redder with each word that came out of her mouth. "THAT'S ENOUGH GWEN!" Jack shot loudly at her.
"No, its okay, Jack," Odessa held up her hand. "She's right. I owe you all an explanation." Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't owe me anything," Jack smiled at her. "That's because you know everything; they don't," she sighed deeply.
"Okay, here goes nothing," she breathed. "I should really start at the very beginning." She took the nearest seat to her; then motioned Gwen to take the chair next to her. "Take a seat; this may take a while," Odessa smiled. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Okay, it all started a long time ago. There was this man, and he 'borrowed' a time machine…"
"And that's my story." Odessa opened her eyes. Rhys' mouth gaped open; his eyes wide. Gwen sat unmoving, not knowing what to think about what she had just heard. Jack smiled and winked in Odessa's direction. She smiled, her nose crinkling slightly; Jack's smile widened.
"I don't really know…" Gwen started. "I mean, I'm not sure…" she stammered again. Odessa smiled at her. "It's okay to be confused, Gwen; it's kind of a lot to take in."
"You're telling me," Rhys muttered. Gwen's eyebrows furrowed. Odessa giggled softly.
She turned her attention to Jack. "Jack, I don't want to sound ungrateful for having me and all, but …" she trailed off. "You have to get home?" he asked sadly. She nodded, smiling weakly. "Yeah, I have to get home."
"That's it? You dump all this on us and then say 'See you later,'?" Gwen croaked. Rhys placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "She needs to get back to her family, right?" he looked at Odessa. She smiled at him. "My parents will be worried sick, not to mention my little brothers," she smiled again, thinking of her family. "Wouldn't you be worried if your daughter just vanished into an unpredictable rift in time and space?" she cocked her head in Gwen's direction. Gwen's eyes grew wide.
"Alright, no problem," he nodded, clapping his hands together. "We're going to need a few things: a hammer, screwdriver, a wrench, 25 feet of wire, and the Rift Manipulator."
Gwen stood and held up her hand. "Hold on. What are you planning on doing, exactly?" Jack smiled a devilish grin. "I'm going to open the Rift!"
"Are you crazy?" Gwen bellow. "Do you even know what will happen if you mess with that thing?" she spat. Jack smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Relax, Gwen. Everything is going to be fine. What's the worse that can happen?"
