A/N- I'm back! Well, part time. I'm still swamped with finals, but I managed to write another chapter of this story, so I just had to post it as soon as possible. It's not the most exciting chapter...well, maybe the end is, but depending on how I organize upcoming material, the next chapter might be more exciting. And for those who don't know, this story is only the first in my T/C trilogy...so if you get discouraged thinking that nothing has materialized by time the story is done...please don't get too discouraged. There's two more stories! There's two very slight refs in this chapter. First, there's a wink at Honey, I Blew Up the Kid because I used to watch that movie over and over! Second, the "spherical" comment is a wink at a very complex time travel theory...but a very fascinating theory since it was made public AFTER the release of MTR. Hmm, the crew was on to something and they might not have even known it!

The Robot With The Green Eyes

"What a day," Tallulah sighed as she went over to sit down next to Carl, who was back aways from the kids, projecting the movie on the wall. "I can honestly say that I'm glad that I don't have any kids of my own. Who knew they could be such a handful?!"

"I did, remember?" Carl answered, reminding her of their conversation the day before.

"Oh, right," there was silence. Both were still feeling the awkwardness of what had happened earlier, but neither had had nerve to discuss it.

Carl, especially, couldn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't get Frankie's words out of his mind. They repeated over and over like a nagging broken record. He sighed and shook his head slightly. Don't worry about what anyone says. You know it's not true, Carl kept telling himself.

"What's wrong?" Tallulah hadn't missed the sigh.

"I guess like you said, it's been a long day," Carl answered. It wasn't a lie, because it had been a long day and he was just wishing it were over already.

"But it's almost over," Tallulah seemed to know his wishes or shared them. "It's almost over," she repeated again, either trying to remain positive or else convince herself that it was really almost over.

"Today, yes, but what about tomorrow? What happens if Camila can't fix that machine?" Carl asked with a hint of dread in his voice. "I would fix it myself if I could but, unless I learn it on my own, I never get any smarter until Cornelius adds it to my primary chip. And he never does that until after a new invention is out of the prototype stage. Of course, I could be the one trying to download as much new info as I can on my own to help the Camila, but I did that once before and nearly fried my system because I downloaded a bad batch…"

"No, no, no. It's okay, Carl. Your help is needed here anyway and it's been a lot, that's the truth," Tallulah couldn't imagine taking care of all of the kids on her own. When she had first arrived, Carl had needed all the help he could get but now he seemed to be more in control of the situation. "All of those years with Wilbur prepared you, huh?" she asked with a playful grin.

"I guess you could say that. But I'm not so sure I can rule out all the years of torture that I had to help Cornelius babysit your brother."

Tallulah couldn't contain herself and suddenly went into a loud fit of laughter. It warranted several "shh's" from the kids and a "let her laugh or else," from Buzz. Still, Tallulah didn't want to ruin the movie so she quickly stifled the rest of her laughs with her hand as best as she could until she was able to get her laughing under control. When she finally thought she was okay again, she looked over at Carl and saw that he was staring at her with a completely amused look on his face and it was so comical that she began laughing again.

"Do you need some water or something?" Carl quickly asked after suddenly realizing that he was actually somewhat enraptured by the sound of Tallulah's laughter.

She shook her head, trying to say something between the laughs, but failing, held up one finger to signal that she needed just a moment. Finally, the laughing subsided and she took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds and then let it release. "I'm sorry, but I was just imagining you babysitting my brother. I couldn't think of a more cruel form of punishment if I even tried."

"He did have a habit of, uh, throwing up a lot," Carl said delicately.

"Oh, I know. I remember when we were younger; he'd get motion sickness so easily. I hated sitting in the backseat with him, and sometimes I think he aimed at me! Thankfully, Cornelius finally invented something to make it stop. I mean, could you just imagine if he still had motion sickness and he always flew around with that hat of his!?"

"I'd…I'd rather not," Carl answered honestly.

"You're right! I'd rather not either," Tallulah giggled. "Did you ever have to babysit me?" Tallulah asked, suddenly curious.

"Actually, only once that I can remember," Carl answered. "You see, Lucille thought it best that a girl babysit you and your brother after you came along and so she asked Franny and Franny was delighted to do so, but of course she got paid for it. I think the real reason why was because I helped Lewis babysit you both one day and well, his shrink ray prototype made you really big instead! Needless to say, Lucille wasn't too happy about it and it killed our reputations as babysitters, but it was fine by me," Carl confessed.

"Wow, I've never heard that story!" Tallulah said with amazement.

"Really? I'd think Laszlo was old enough to remember, but it's strange what the brain chooses to remember and what it chooses to forget."

"That's true."

"Well, at least none of these kids have been made any bigger!"

"No, but as always, there's a prototype gone wrong. So it's déjà vu for me," Carl joked.

"Yes, well…" Tallulah stopped. She had been thinking about the machine and a new thought occurred to her. "Where's Wilbur and Camila? The library should have been closed hours ago!"

"Little buddy!" Carl also panicked at the sudden realization that they hadn't yet seen or heard from the two in over 6 hours. "I've got to find them!" the robot exclaimed rather loudly, warranting more "shh's."

"I'm just as worried, but I think we should let the children finish the movie first."

"I guess …" Carl's every-worrying personality betrayed his confidence in Tallulah's suggestion.

"Well, how about I go see if I can get a hold of anyone at the library, or anyone really."

"Try contacting him with his receiver. He usually has it on hand. Just use the phone in the lab," Carl suggested.

"That's genius, Carl!" Tallulah agreed anxiously to the idea and hurried away to the lab. Carl purposely chose not to watch as she did. Instead, he kept his eyes straight ahead.

--Lewis' Yard--

Meanwhile, Wilbur and Camila were still in the past, trying to think of a solution. However, they had stopped for awhile so that Lewis could at least look over Camila's notes. They all sat around on the ground near the time machine, except for Carl, who was studying the time machine with great curiosity.

"I understand some of this, most of it really, but there are just a few strings of equations that I've never seen before. For example," Lewis pointed to a long line of inexplicable mathematical and scientific numbers, variables and symbols grouped together to suggest they were all a part of the same long equation.

Camila studied it for a moment then let out a sudden, "Oh yeah!"

"Oh, yeah what?" Lewis asked.

"This equation is a post-gravitational equation. That's why you don't recognize it," Camila explained.

"He doesn't recognize it because he hasn't invented it yet," Wilbur added proudly.

"I know that, Wilbur. I was just about to say that before you interrupted."

"Well, he's my dad. I should get to say it," Wilbur huffed defensively.

"Would you both stop bickering and please tell me what post-gravitational means!" Lewis demanded.

"Right now, the earth is limited by gravitational law," Camila began.

"But you're going to find a way to bend the laws of gravity!" Wilbur exclaimed.

"What? I can't bend the laws of gravity!" Lewis was incredulous.

"Sure you can," Wilbur said encouragingly. "Just think spherical."

"Spherical?"

"Mm-hmm," Camila agreed. "It's the only way you could have ever invented a time machine."

"That explains the bubble. So, I'm responsible for this equation?" Lewis asked, studying it again in amazement. "Wow…"

"Yeah, so I guess that means you're also responsible for why my math class is so hard," Wilbur added in an annoyed tone.

"It's only hard because you never try," Camila accused.

"That is not true," Wilbur defended.

"You don't apply yourself," Camila continued.

"Except in areas of mischief," Lewis joked.

"Great, let's all stand around and pick on Wilbur. If I think of a way to get back, I don't know if I'll even let you both in on it," Wilbur threatened.

"Okay, okay," Lewis spoke up. "I'm sorry. Don't do anything too hasty now."

"You? Come up with a way to get back?" Camila asked with a laugh.

"Camila," Lewis' eyebrows narrowed down behind the rims of his glasses.

"Why, you little…" Wilbur began.

"Wilbur," Lewis quickly turned his glare towards his son.

Wilbur would have completely ignored Lewis' warning had it not been for being interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice coming through the receiver he had in his ear. "Tallulah?"

"Wilbur, where are you? You should have been home hours ago. What's going on with the machine?" Tallulah flooded him with questions.

"Hold on, I'm going to transfer you to the time machine," Wilbur said quickly and with the push of a button inside of the machine, Tallulah's voice could be heard over a speaker.

"The time machine?! What do you mean the time machine!? Where exactly are you, Wilbur?"

"No offense, Tallulah, but it's usually Carl's job to call me and freak out over where I'm at," Wilbur averted the question.

"Carl can't right now," Tallulah answered.

"Oh no! They ate me instead!" the past Carl suddenly yelled in panic.

"What was that?" Tallulah asked curiously. "It sounded like Carl."

"Just ignore that," Wilbur answered, and then shot a questioning glance towards his young dad about his robot's odd behavior. Lewis only gave an embarrassed laugh and a shrug of the shoulders.

"Okay, but I'm not going to ignore the fact that you said time machine. I want an answer right now, Wilbur," Tallulah demanded. "Me and Carl are worried about you and Camila. You need to come home soon."

"Well..." Wilbur gave a nervous laugh.

"Well what!?" there was a worried tone in Tallulah's voice.

"We would but…"

"Oh, just let me explain it already," Lewis interrupted.

"Lewis?" Tallulah recognized her young inventor cousin's voice.

"Hi, Tallulah. Wilbur and Camila came back to get me so that I could help with the machine but we ran into a serious problem," Lewis began explaining their dilemma. "Basically, Wilbur forgot to check the fuel in the time machine and now we're not sure if there's enough to get us back."

"That is a dilemma! I have to go tell Carl!"

"No!" Wilbur exclaimed.

"What do you mean no?" Tallulah demanded.

"Carl will just panic and make things worse. He's good at that," Wilbur answered.

"Well, maybe he's good at it because you're good at giving him reasons to panic," Tallulah said in Carl's defense.

"Okay, maybe I do but that's not really important right now. What's important is that we get back…" Wilbur paused and narrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought, "…somehow. I think I know what to do!"

"What?" Tallulah asked in confusion.

"You're kidding right?" Camila asked skeptically.

"No, I'm serious! I'm almost certain I know what to do!" Wilbur exclaimed again. "Tallulah, don't worry about a thing. I promise we'll be fine."

"Okay, Wilbur. I'm trusting you for now, but if you're not home by…" Tallulah's voice faded out quickly as Wilbur hung up on her.

"Yeah, that's the way to prove you're trustworthy," Camila rolled her eyes.

"And it was rude," Lewis added in a fatherly tone. "Now what's the plan?"

--The Lab--

"Thank you so much for understanding. I really wish I could make it tomorrow. I was looking forward to it so much," Tallulah said genuinely. After being hung up on by Wilbur, she had decided to call Johnny Vantino.

"Tallulah," Carl's voice was heard as he was coming up the stairs to the lab. "Did you get in contact with…Wilbur," he stopped when he saw Johnny on the screen.

"I'm sorry, Johnny. I have to go. I promise I won't miss the next lunch. Bye!" Tallulah hung up and turned to face Carl.

"That wasn't Wilbur," Carl said as he pointed to where Johnny had been. His face went from a confused look to an indignant one. "What were you doing?"

"I was talking to Johnny," Tallulah didn't appreciate Carl's sudden tone. "Is that such a problem?" she asked defensively.

"YES! It is when Wilbur and Camila are missing and there are forty-four other kids out there getting more and more restless by the minute now that the movie's over," Carl threw up his hands dramatically.

"Wow, Wilbur was right. You are prone to panic."

"Well, maybe because this is a good reason to panic!" Carl defended himself.

"Let me explain before you short circuit. I had to call Johnny and let him know that I can't make it tomorrow. It's called being polite. The rest of this family may not know the meaning of the word, but I do," she huffed.

"I never said you couldn't be polite, but I really think that we should focus on finding Wilbur and Camila," Carl calmed his voice and tried to act rationally.

"I already found them," Tallulah followed his lead.

"You did!?" Carl was almost furious that she hadn't just told him in the first place. "I mean, you did?" he lowered his voice again.

"Yes. They went back in time to get some help from Lewis. But the time machine is low on fuel so they've been stuck there. But he promised everything will be fine and that we shouldn't worry," Tallulah explained.

"FINE!? We shouldn't worry!? And you trusted him?" This sent Carl back over the edge for good. "What were you thinking? Being stuck in the past is not fine, Tallulah! It could irreparably alter the timeline, especially if Camila's there too. You should have come and told me immediately instead of calling Mr. Whatever His Name Is. Unless you thought he could do something about it. What's soooo great about him that you thought it would be okay to call him instead of coming and telling me about Wilbur and Camila? I just don't understand it!"

"And I don't understand you!" Tallulah lashed back. "What's your problem with Johnny? You sounded annoyed when I mentioned my lunch with him earlier too. You've never even met him!"

"It's not Johnny that's annoying me right now, Tallulah, it's you!" Carl exclaimed, but immediately covered his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was too late and there were already tears brimming in Tallulah's eyes. "I'm sorry. I…I…" Tallulah couldn't even choke anything else out. She pushed past him, and ran out quickly.

"What have I done?" Carl brought his fingertips to his mouth in a worried manner. He couldn't believe what he had just said to Tallulah and he especially couldn't believe how meanly he had said it. "I didn't mean it," he apologized aloud although he knew there was no one around to hear him. He replayed the entire scene in his robotic mind, cringing at the memory of how he must have sounded. He realized how angry he had been when he had seen Johnny on the screen. He normally never would have said something so horrible to Tallulah, not even if she had made him upset. As he thought about it, he realized that it really wasn't Tallulah that his anger had been directed toward. Carl sighed and groaned at the same time, now turning his anger towards himself. "Maybe Frankie was right. Maybe I am jealous.