I Can't Time Travel
And then I heard it, one lone thought and I knew what I had to do no matter the consequences, nothing or no one could change my mind now, it was set, and I'd just have to deal with the fallout.
"Okay," I said to Sylar. "I'll join you."
It was Rory's thought that led me to this conclusion.
I love you Jess and I'll support you whatever you choose, just promise me you'll think it through and follow your heart. -Rory
Rory said she'd be with me no matter what, so I decided to join Sylar, how else could I ensure my family's safety.
"Are you sure?" Sylar asked.
"Yes," I replied nervously. "What the hell?" I asked confused as a Japanese guy appeared at my side.
He said nothing and instead put his hand on my shoulder. The scenery changed, we were in the same place, but it was different, Sylar was gone for one thing, but the streets of Stars Hollow were deserted, and all the shops were boarded up.
"What happened here?" I asked the guy. "Wait, who are you and what did you do?"
"I'm Hiro Nakamura," they responded seriously. "And you are exactly three years in the future from today's date."
"The future?" I questioned confused.
"Yes," he said. "I can bend the space-time continuum."
"Okay, sure," I replied still shocked. "So what happened here, where is everyone… where's Luke… and Rory? Where are they?"
"One question at a time," Hiro said. "I'll explain everything, but you must be patient."
"Where's Luke?" I asked trying to act calm as I ran up to the empty diner.
"He's dead." Hiro joined me.
"Dead?" I questioned, Luke couldn't be dead. "How?" I managed to ask him.
"Sylar," Hiro said. "You accepted his offer to join him, which didn't go down to well with your uncle, he left the diner and came out to fight for you, but Sylar won."
"Why didn't I stop Sylar?" I asked confused, I would've done anything to protect Luke.
"He threatened more lives," Hiro explained. "You wanted to stop him, but you were fearful that if you did then more people would've died."
"So I just stood there?" I asked him confused. "I just stood there and watched him get killed, I wouldn't do that."
"Well you did," Hiro responded.
"Rory?" I asked him, dropping the previous subject. "Is she… I mean…"
"She's fine," Hiro replied. "Well for the most part."
"What do you mean?" I asked confused. "What's wrong? …Why won't you tell me?"
"Let me explain from the beginning," Hiro said calmly. "It will make more sense that way."
"Go ahead," I said defeated, sitting down on the diner steps with my head in my hands.
"After accepting Sylar's offer and him killing your uncle, you left," Hiro explained. "You didn't say goodbye to Rory in fear that Sylar would figure out your connection to her and kill her. You traveled the country, with Sylar killing and you absorbing their powers. You helped Sylar control his abilities better. You were both getting stronger, taking on a new power every day."
"But I didn't kill anyone?" I asked Hiro concerned.
"Not yet," Hiro replied. "You and Sylar spent two months traveling and evading the people who were trying to stop you. Sylar got bored one day and froze a busted fire hydrant, the water turned into ice midair. It got picked up by the reporters and the company had to spend the bulk of their time covering it up, it was too late though people were starting to get suspicious."
"A couple of weeks later Sylar told you to stay put while he attended some private business," Hiro continued. "You flew to Stars Hollow and saw Rory. She had been waiting for you and seemed fine about what you were doing, she knew it was just to keep her safe. But when it came time for you to leave Stars Hollow it was too hard, you only just made it back before Sylar and he started to get suspicious."
"You snuck off to see Rory several times after that," Hiro explained. "And one day Sylar caught you, but he kept it to himself. He decided he needed to make a little trip down to Stars Hollow to put you back in your place. He killed innocents as he walked the streets of Stars Hollow looking for her, he finally found her on the bridge. She didn't stand a chance, but apparently you heard her thoughts from over a thousand miles away and came to her rescue, but it was too late. She wasn't dead, but Sylar had toyed with her brain, so she'd never be able to communicate with anyone ever again. She can still understand everyone, but she can't speak or move her body."
"But I'd still be able to read her mind," I argued outraged. "I must've visited her."
"You didn't," Hiro replied. "Lorelai banned you from seeing her. Although you tried, Lorelai was always one step ahead as she had the others on her side. Parkman would read your mind and then they would prepare for your visit. You gave up after a while, but one day you knew you just had to see her. So you went, but Lorelai got in your way and you killed her. You only got less than a minute with Rory before you were taken away. They locked you up in the company facilities, which you didn't mind because you knew killing Lorelai was a mistake."
"God," I replied ashamed of myself. I never thought I'd be capable of any of this.
"They rehabilitated you quickly, as they knew you felt remorse for your actions," Hiro continued. "They knew Sylar would come back for you, so they trained you, got you ready to work against him. They put you on a low level security floor and sure enough Sylar took the bait. You acted normal, but because you'd killed Lorelai, Sylar pushed you to kill again and you did a couple of times."
"You only did it to show Sylar your trust and how loyal you were to him," Hiro explained. "But after your fifth kill, you thirsted for it. You started killing innocents and no one could stop you. You became more powerful than Sylar and soon you became the one in charge. Sylar was so pleased with your progress that he didn't even seem to mind being demoted. You and Sylar went on a killing rampage, you were known all across America as the worst serial killers of all time."
This can't be happening, how did everything turned out so screwed up?
"You came back to Stars Hollow with Sylar," Hiro continued. "You set about killing everyone here, which you nearly did, only a few made it out alive. That's why it's deserted now, no one came back for their belongings, a few tourists come through sometimes but otherwise Stars Hollow has been wiped off the map. And quite literally I might add. They thought if they erased everything to do with Stars Hollow, then everybody would forget about what happened here. You killed around 700 innocents that day, I don't know how you did it, but you did."
"700," I gasped. I still couldn't believe it was me he was talking about. I'd never do that. Sure Taylor annoyed me from time to time, but I'd never kill him.
"After you wiped out Stars Hollow, everyone knew that people with powers existed and you and Sylar went out destroying all that wouldn't join you," Hiro explained. "A few joined, Adam Monroe, Claire Bennet, Angela Petrelli, Jessica Sanders, Linderman, a few others. You killed your followers when your numbers got too big. You only liked to keep the original members."
"Claire Bennet?" I asked him confused.
"You're her uncle," Hiro answered. "She felt as though she belonged with you, especially after you killed her father Noah Bennet and your own brother Nathan Petrelli."
"Wait," I said confused. "Nathan's my brother?"
"Yes," Hiro answered. "Your mother Liz Danes had a one night stand with Arthur Petrelli, which resulted in you. Arthur paid your mother off in the promise that it'd never come out, which it never did, well publicly at least. Anyway you gained followers, some of which were part of your own family, you terrorized and killed anyone and everyone. Adam Monroe got a hold of the Shanti virus and with your help unleashed it on the population, only the strong survived. The virus wiped out 93 of the world's total population."
"What about Rory?" I asked him. "Did I ever see her again? Did she survive the virus?"
"She survived. You killed a guy who owned a nice place in a small town and you let Rory live there with her caretaker," Hiro explained. "You visited her every day and sat with her. She reasoned with you, told you that you had to get out, but by the time you realized it was too late. None of the others would let you leave, so you killed them, all of them except Claire. You spent all your free time with Rory then, but you could never make up for what you'd done. Rory forgave you and you learned to move on with your life, for a while."
"One day you couldn't take it anymore," Hiro continued. "So you researched everything and found out I could travel through time. You tracked me down, which was hard because I changed to a new place every couple of days. It was hard for me to believe you at first, you killed my best friend Ando in one of your mass killings and I never forgave you for it. You explained to me that you knew where it all went wrong and that if you could just go back in time and give yourself a message, which you did, then it'd be fine. You went back and told Rory to tell you to think it through and follow your heart. You believed it would be enough to convince you to fight Sylar, but it back fired. So I came and took you away, I figured if you could see it, if I explained it to you, then you would make the right decision yourself."
"Well, I know now," I told Hiro. "I can stop this all from happening. Then everyone will still be alive… Wait can I see Rory first?"
"I figured you'd asked this," Hiro said as he grabbed my shoulder and teleported us into Rory's room.
"Rory?" I said as I rushed over to her, she seemed so lifeless.
"I'll leave you two alone," I said, well Future-Jess said. "Come on, Hiro."
They left the room. Future-Jess didn't even look like me, he had a deep scar on his face, soulless eyes, and looked way too old to be only twenty years of age.
Jess? –Rory
"I'm here," I said as I grabbed her hand. "I'm so sorry."
You have to go back… you have to change what happened. -Rory
"What if it's just as bad?" I asked her nervously. "What if I lose… What if others die?"
93 per cent of the population is dead. Everyone I know apart from you is also dead. The other reality has to be better than this Jess, it just has to be. -Rory
I nearly broke down there and then, she sounded so sad. She'd lost everyone, even herself, and that was all because of the decision I'd made.
"What if I can't fix it?" I asked Rory. "What if I lose you in the process?"
Jess over five billion people have died, nearly six, do you understand that? –Rory
"Of course," I replied. "It must be done."
"Hey, kid," Future-Jess said to me.
"Hey… What do I call you?" I asked confused.
"Call me Peter, it's my middle name," Future-Jess... well Peter explained. "She needs her rest," Peter told me. "Hopefully when you wake up everything will be different," he told Rory as he kissed her.
"I'll try my hardest," I promised Rory as I kissed her goodbye, hopefully I'd never have to see her like this again.
"We've thought of a plan," Peter told me as we left Rory. "You're good at handling abilities, so we're going to give you a couple extra ones before you go back, just so you'll have a better chance against Sylar."
He talked to me like I was someone else that we weren't even the same person, but I guess he's right, we were far from alike now. I could never imagine going through what he had and still be functioning, I would've broken down long ago.
"Okay," I responded. "I'll do whatever's necessary to help."
"The manor?" Hiro asked.
"Yeah," Peter agreed. "I'm accepted there, so that's where we'll start."
They both put their hands on my shoulders and teleported me to the manor.
"You alright, kid?" Peter asked me concerned, as I was a little shaky on my feet.
"Yeah," I said. "It just screws up with my equilibrium, but I'm fine."
"You'll get used to that," Hiro explained as they led me down a corridor.
"Nikki?" Peter asked as he opened a door. "You mind showing the kid what you can do?"
"Sure," Nikki replied as she pulls a metal rod off of the bed and bends it in half with no effort.
"Wow," I said impressed, she definitely didn't look like the kind of woman who could bend steel.
"Here," Peter said as he handed me the bent rod. "Straighten it out."
"I'll try," I said as I took the rod. I thought of Nikki, I thought it'd help, and I easily straightened it out.
"Quick learner," Nikki said impressed. "I think he's quicker than you Peter."
"We're the same person," Peter replied. "Thanks for your help."
"Why does she call you Peter?" I asked him confused, I'd never go by my middle name.
"I destroyed my name," Peter said sadly. "Everyone knows the name Jess Mariano and they live in fear because of it, so I go by Peter. It's easier."
"Here," Hiro said. He had a group of people with him. "Seeing as though Jess picks up abilities fast I figured we could line them up and get this over with a lot quicker."
"Sure," Peter replied as we entered some main hall. "You sure you're up to this, kid?"
"I can handle it," I said.
The first person stepped forward.
"My name's Meredith Gordon," Meredith said as she opened up her hand to show an open flame. "And I control fire."
I did the same. It seemed long ago that I couldn't even control one ability, but maybe being in close proximity to them made it easier.
"Elle Bishop," a blonde girl said as she shot electricity out of her hand. "I can manipulate electricity."
I once again did the same. It went on for a little while. I got to manipulate technology from a young boy called Micah. I learned to block other people's powers from a Haitian guy. Monica Dawson showed me I could do anything as long as I'd seen it done once before and she gave me her iPod to study up. Candice Wilmer taught me to shapeshift into anyone I wanted.
"I think that's enough," Peter said to the group and they all left. "How do you feel, kid?"
"Powerful," I answered truthfully. I felt as though I could do anything, even face Sylar and win.
"We need to train," Peter told me. "We need to make sure you're ready."
"Okay," I said.
"I'll attack and I'll call out a specific power," Peter explained to me. "And I want you to use that power, don't get cocky and try a different power, just do as I say."
"Okay," I accepted.
I did as he told me, he actually knew me quite well. I only used the power he asked and I blocked nearly every attack he threw at me. He got me a couple of times, but he was playing against the rules. He said that it was to toughen me up, so I didn't complain. He was confident after a while that I could call upon any power in an instant.
"Now," Peter said to me. "You're going to try and block my powers, like the Haitian, but I want you to block specific powers, not all my powers. This will take a lot of concentration, are you ready to try, kid?"
"Sure," I replied.
It was hard at first, I nearly gave up a million times, but I thought of Rory in her state, not being able to do anything that she wanted. She had big dreams and my split second decision had ruined that for her, so I persevered. I started getting the hang of it eventually, but Peter was patient throughout and kept telling me I was doing a good job. We stopped not long later, Peter didn't want me to overdo it and he believed I was ready.
He didn't send me straight back to Stars Hollow like I expected. We sat down and ate dinner with the other residents of the manor. Peter assured me I needed my strength and that I was also to spend the night, but for now I just relaxed and enjoyed dinner. I pushed Sylar and everything my future-self had done out of my mind and just enjoyed myself.
"Stop being a show off, Peter," Nikki said.
"What?" Peter asked in mock confusion. "You said that you wanted the mashed potatoes."
"But she didn't want them levitated to her," Micah said amused. "Did you, Mom?"
"No sweetie," Nikki replied as she grabbed the potatoes out of midair. "But you know Peter he just loves to show off."
"What about you, Jess?" Monica asked me. "Do you show off too?"
"I guess," I answered. "But only my girlfriend knows what I can do… Well she was the only one until today."
"It's good having someone that knows," Hiro said. "I think we all had someone. I had Ando. You and Peter had Rory…"
"But now you're going to have more," Monica said excitedly. "Because you're going to track us down aren't you, Jess?"
"I don't know," I replied. "Can't Future-Hiro just go back and tell Past-Hiro to look me up?"
"You're lazy, kid," Peter said to me amused.
"Just like you," I said to Peter. "Where's Claire?" I asked Peter cautiously.
"She'll be down in a minute," Meredith answered. "She wanted to dress up because we had company and apparently she doesn't get to dress up anymore, so she's taking advantage of this occasion."
"Mother like daughter, I see," Hiro said to Meredith. "You look stunning, Meredith."
"Thank you, Hiro." Meredith blushed.
"I'm confused," I told the table. "You're Claire's mother, and Nikki and Micah are related?"
"This is how it is," Peter explained. "You've got Nikki and her son Micah, plus Micah's cousin Monica. Then you have Meredith and her daughter Claire, who you'll meet in a minute, and you… well we're Claire's uncle. Then we've got Hiro, he just comes and goes as he pleases. We have Elle, Molly and Candice. There's also Claude, but he keeps to himself, he's invisible, so he could be standing right next to you for all we know."
"This seems like a safe place," I said to everyone.
"More like a place for misfits," Claire said as she joined us at the table.
"Claire," Meredith warned. "Be nice, your uncle's here."
"Yeah," Claire replied. "Two uncles. Nice to meet you…"
"Call me, Jess," I said. "And it's nice to meet you too, I was just reading about that unfortunate event at your school… Homecoming."
"That was a lifetime ago," Claire said, sitting down.
"You seem young," I said to Molly.
"Yeah," Molly agreed. "Sylar killed my parents and then Mohinder and Parkman took me in."
"Mohinder and Parkman?" I asked Peter. "What are they up to these days?"
"Mohinder died during the New York blast," Peter explained coldly. "So we took Molly in. No one knows where Parkman is, but apparently he's still alive."
"New York blast?" I asked him confused.
"Yeah," Peter said unwillingly. "Nuclear bomb wiped out half of New York City. Sylar and his crew were responsible. So, Elle, how's things going?" Peter said immediately changing the subject.
I decided to read his mind, well everyone's mind, just to get some more answers.
I can't believe I blew up New York City on purpose. I hope Jess can fix this, I don't want him to have to go through all this. -Peter
Jess seems cool, less strict than Peter, but his name it reminds me of all the bad things I've done… that we've done. -Claire
I miss Mohinder and Parkman, sure it's great living here with Micah and Monica, but I miss them so much. -Molly
"I still can't believe how brave Mohinder, Bennet and Parkman were today," I said mainly for Molly's benefit. "They all faced Sylar just to protect me."
"Really?" Claire asked brightening up.
"Yeah," I said. "Your dad got knocked unconscious trying to fight Sylar. I just couldn't believe they'd even try to face Sylar without any productive powers."
"But you saved them all," Molly said to me. "You went out to face Sylar on you own just so they wouldn't get killed."
"I guess," I replied. "But that didn't really work out as planned, did it?"
"You'll fix it," Claude said, appearing in the empty chair, I had no doubt he'd been there the whole time. "You're the infamous Jess Mariano after all."
"Yeah," Hiro said, trying to psych me up. "You did become more powerful than Sylar in this reality, you can beat him without a doubt."
"Why can't we all fight?" Claire asked Peter. "It won't stuff up the already sucky future, will it?"
"Jess needs to do this on his own," Peter said. Claire started to protest. "And that's final."
"Fine," Claire said, leaving the table. "We never get to have any fun anymore."
"Sorry about her," Meredith apologized to me.
"It's fine," I said. "It must be tough on her… tough on all of you, especially with me being here and you all having to call me Jess."
"It's fine," Claude said. "You haven't done any of those things yet."
That shouldn't matter.
"I'm ready," I said to Peter. "I can't spend the night here, I know what I have to do and I don't want to wait any longer."
"Okay, kid," Peter said.
I said my goodbyes to the people at the table. I knew I'd miss them, but hopefully I could look them up in the new reality.
"Can I see Rory again?" I asked Peter as we walked through the Manor. "If it's not any trouble."
"Sure," Peter replied. "Second floor, end of the hall."
"She's here?" I asked surprised. "Why did you teleport me away from her then?"
"We needed you to focus," Peter explained. "And if you're really like me then you never would've been able to concentrate knowing Rory was so close by."
"Good call," I said as I headed upstairs. "Rory?" I asked quietly as I opened her door, I didn't want to disturb her.
Jess. -Rory
"Hey," I said to her as I sat down on the bed and grabbed her hand. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I left."
I love you Jess. -Rory
"I love you too, Rory." I kissed her. "When you wake up I promise everything will be different. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're safe… and Luke and Lorelai, hell the whole town of Stars Hollow."
You'll do it. I know you're strong enough to do this Jess. -Rory
"Thanks," I replied as I kissed her again. "I'm never going to let you out of my sight, you know that, I love you and I'll see you soon, bye."
Good luck and I'll see you soon too. -Rory
I gave her one last kiss and waved goodbye. This was harder than I thought it'd be. I headed back down the stairs. Rory was my driving force behind all this and seeing her bound to bed like that, not being able to move, just gave me more of an incentive to make things right.
"How'd it go, kid?" Peter asked me.
"Hard," I answered truthfully. "But I'll see her soon."
"You'll look after her, won't you?" Peter asked me sadly.
"With my life," I replied.
"Good," Peter said as he ruffed up my hair. "You ready to go back, kid?"
"Sure," I replied sadly. "But I won't get to see you again. You're different, stronger, wiser, I like who you are."
"But you know how I got here," Peter explained. "And trust me, you'll get stronger and wiser, but from more positive experiences. We are the same person after all."
"Can I visit you… Well, the new future you?" I asked him hopefully.
"Sure," Peter replied. "I'm sure that won't break any rules."
"Can I still call you Peter?" I asked him nervously. I liked calling him Peter, it suited him so much and I'd hate to have to call him Jess.
"Sure thing. kid," he answered. "Call me whatever you like."
"Good," I said my mood brightening. "I won't lose you all together then."
"Never, I'll always be here for you," Peter said as he brought me into a hug. "I'll just be a little different and hopefully won't have a scar on my face, I hate it."
"I'll try and avoid that for you," I said as I laughed. "Plus I'm bound to stuff up again, so I'm guessing you're going to be much the same, having to come save me again and all."
"You'll do fine, kid," Peter reassured me, pulling out of the hug. "You ready to go back?"
"Yeah," I said confidently. "I don't want Rory to live another minute in this reality."
"Okay," Peter said as he put his hand on my shoulder and teleported me back three years.
"I'll come and see you when things get better," I promised him.
"Good luck, kid," Peter said, hugging me. "Just do as I told you."
"I will," I replied.
"See ya, kid," Peter said, disappearing. "I believe in you."
I took a deep breath, turning to face Sylar. "I rescind my offer," I told him confidently. "I'll never join you."
"Enlightening trip then?" Sylar questioned. "Fine by me, it just means I get to kill you today rather than later down the track."
"Go ahead and try," I told him confidently. "You're not going to win."
I prepared myself. I was waiting for him to make the first move. I took the time to quickly reflect. I was glad Hiro had taken me into the future and explained everything to me. Meeting Peter, seeing how tortured he was, just from one decision really opened my eyes. I was glad though, knowing Peter would help me out anytime I made a mistake, it was comforting. And meeting all the others with abilities was great. I'd definitely try to look them up when this was all over.
The trip into the future changed me in so many ways and I couldn't wait to tell Rory all about it… Well maybe an edited version, she didn't need to know everything that was forced upon me…
"Are you ready?" Sylar asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
"Are you ready?" I countered as I decided to make the first move, he was taking far too long and I was growing impatient.