A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, I have job where I work weekends now so it was a bit hard to find some time to update. But here it is. It came from me, this one, so I would love to know what you think. The next chapter after this is going to go forwards in time quite a bit. I hope you like this chapter and I'm going to shut up now.

A Question for another Time

Emily had come through the gateway even though she knew she shouldn't. It was one of her rules – not to interact or stay in a time with other human inhabitants. She couldn't help but think how hypocritical it was; but, if she didn't do it, Charlotte, her best friend, would die. But it was pointless. Charlotte hadn't gotten to a hospital before she'd died, and then he'd come. Matt.

Emily could tell by looking at his clothes that he belonged in this time, unlike her. In looks they contrasted terribly. He was tall and muscled, in a pair of jeans and a shirt under his new, brown leather jacket. Emily, on the other hand, still wore her Victorian dress and protected her arms in a weathered leather jacket she'd stolen from one of the first time's she'd accidentally walked into, expecting it to be the doorway back to her home.

She was forced to go back through the gateway, into that time with the tree creepers, knowing that if she stayed and was caught, terrible things would happen. But he saw her. He followed her, desperately shouting, "Wait!" But she couldn't. She looked at him for a few moments, assessing his intentions and how much he knew about her, before turning and running through the glittering ball of golden light.

Emily forged ahead, forgetting temporarily about the man who had followed her. She was alert, trying to keep an eye out for tree creepers, but she could hear him coming closer and still shouting to her as they weaved between trees. Before it was too late and he caught up to her, she ducked behind a tree and grabbed the heaviest thing she could find: a thick branch.

As Matt came running past, wondering how he had managed to lose sight of the woman, she spun out from behind a tree and whacked him across the chest with a very large stick, knocking the breath from him.

"I don't need your help, you fool. Go back!" And despite the fact that they didn't even know each other, Emily spoke with such determination and a fierce fire raged in her chocolate-brown eyes. He was strangely attracted to it.

As he lay on the floor, trying to get air into his lungs, Matt saw the tree creeper, or rather the arboreal raptor leaping through the trees after her, and pushed himself to his feet.

He too had broken all the rules that he'd implemented when he started at the ARC. He'd gone through an anomaly. And he still hadn't gone back. All because of some psychopathic woman who went around hitting guys with logs and wouldn't listen to anyone.

"Hey!" He shouted, trying to get her attention to warn her. "Hey, look out!

It worked, but she turned to face him and never noticed the tail sliding around her middle until it was too late and she was in the air, writhing to get free as the life was slowly squeezed out of her.

It was hard, but Emily managed to draw the dagger from her boot and stab the creature so that it dropped her. She fell to the ground hard, banging her head on a rock and when Matt bent over her, she could have sworn she saw two of him.

He helped her up and hurried away, constantly looking over her shoulder and ignoring her gasps as every breath she took sent waves of pain where she had fallen on her side.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you home," he replied, in an obvious Irish lilt.

Emily's head was beginning to pound and sway when they arrived at the gateway and Matt cursed, "No, no!" He didn't know what to do. The woman he had followed clearly needed medical attention.

It looked different in a ball with its glow reduced but Emily was too delirious to really think about it. Taking her dagger from his belt, Matt set her down on the ground and took up a defensive position in front of her. She watched as he battled with a tree creeper and wished she were able to help.

Then the anomaly opened, and Matt looked behind him in disbelief, before running to Emily and heaving her up. They crossed through the anomaly and fell down, all too aware of what was behind them.

But by that point, Emily was unconscious.

Matt and Becker talked over her, their voices bringing her back around slightly until when Matt, with the help of Becker, picked her up, taking all her weight in his arms this time, she groaned. Her head was aching and everything around her seemed to spin. The rhythm of Matt's steps lulled the pain slightly but she still felt as though she might be sick.

He stopped suddenly and the blip of the car when he used the keys to unlock it sounded much too loud for her.

He carefully put her in the passenger seat and went to the driver's side. When he began driving, Emily turned and quietly asked, her eyes closed, "What is this?"

Matt breathed out, his suspicion that she was from another time igniting.

"It's a car."

Emily nodded slightly, but she still had no idea what he was talking about.

"How's it moving?"

The quiet roar of the engine was a bit loud and made Emily's head hurt, but when Matt began to try to explain to her the mechanics of why the car moved without horses, she fell back into unconsciousness, and Matt, worried, floored the accelerator, regardless of the fact that it could get him arrested.

The next time Emily came to be in a car was only a few hours later, but this time she was much more alert. They were going back to Matt's flat, where, he insisted, she should rest because of her concussion.

She looked at the black car in confusion. It was sleek and big, metal but it must have been light, she theorised, to be able to move itself.

"How does it work again?" She asked.

"It's got an engine…a motor," matt began, wondering how to explain the 21st century to a Victorian, "that sort of makes it move…I'm not very good at explaining. Why don't you let me look it up on the internet?"

"What's the internet?"

Matt groaned. "A question for another time, that's what."