Chapter seven

"Where did Spencer say the three possible places for a hideout were?" I asked Watson, who pulled out a notebook.

"Either an abandoned shed-" he began.

"Thanks, I remember now. He said to go down LBJ, right? What about checking that out first?" I said. The last part was really a rhetorical question, seeing as I was already turning onto LBJ Freeway (Interstate 635 for you non-locals). Holmes just sighed, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "not that we have much choice."

(The site is screwing up my formatting, so just pretend that this is a line)

That's how we found ourselves trapped in a burning building. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Watson guarded the entrance to the small shed, and Holmes and I went into the shed…

…to find the figure of Xavier Akastra hunched over a machine. I let out a breath I did not realize I had been holding. Holmes and I shared a glance, both of us thinking the same thing: That must be the time machine.

It was smaller than I had expected; it was about the size of a shoebox, and it was sleek, except for a dial and a touch screen that must have been the controls. Akastra suddenly looked up.

"Officer Willow, Mr. Holmes," he sneered. His voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. "What a pleasant surprise. Just in time to see me begin my vision, the beginning of a new world."

"And what is that vision, Akastra?" I asked him, even though I did not want to know.

"A world of geniuses… You and Spencer don't make the cut, I'm afraid. I really am sorry to kill you, you know. But I have to. You will interfere with my plans. It will be a perfect world, full of prodigies. Only a select stock is fit to pass on their genes. Hitler was right, you know. He just had the wrong Master Race. I will get people to follow me, and once the less than elite, the average people, are eliminated, the chosen will live in a Utopia of opportunity. Mr. Holmes, I won't kill you. Join me now, and I just might let the doctor live. Otherwise…" He held up a lit match. With a cackle, he threw it at my feet. As sparks leaped up, I felt my mind racing to think of a plan. The storm on Friday had not been sufficient to dampen the bone-dry wood of the old shed, and as a result flames were quickly leaping up the bone-dry shed. Memories coursed through me, and the fire engulfed me in a panic as my eyes went wide…

… I was five years old, and I was playing with my twelve-year-old brother, Isaac. We were home alone. "Go Fish!" I ordered Isaac, in that aloof voice that only a five year old can muster. But he was not paying attention.

"Riley, I smell smoke!" he hissed at me, just as the fire alarm started blaring. I looked around the room in panic, dropping my hand of cards. "Stay low, Riley!" my brother shouted. "The smoke rises!" But I was in a panic attack and was coughing by the time we reached the door. Isaac was holding me around the back with one hand. With a powerful shove, he pushed the oak front door open, and we stumbled out onto the porch. As I lay there, gasping for breath, Isaac pulled me to the lawn. I realized that my brother had just saved my life….

…Then the smoldering two by four fell on my head, with no more warning than a creak before it snapped under the intense heat; I fell into darkness.

WATSON PoV

I steadied my revolver on Akastra's head after I saw Officer Willow fall. I saw Holmes grabbing her, shoving her lithe, unmoving frame out of the door. Not that I would say it to Holmes, but for all his disdain of women he reacted very quickly. Keeping my gun trained on Akastra, I snarled, "You are a madman!" Almost without thinking, I pulled the trigger, just as Akastra pressed a button, and there was a flash of white light. The time machine had activated, just as the shed imploded on itself. As the scene dissolved around my eyes, I saw the bullet miss Akastra. My aim had been true, but the time change had caused it to fly into the flames devouring the shed. Thank goodness, Akastra might have been a criminal, but I was a doctor; I was trained to heal, not to harm.

I just had time to grab Holmes, who had been knocked back by the explosion, as I fell into a void that had not been there before. We must have been a sight, Akastra, an evil grin on his face; Me holding my revolver in one hand, and Holmes, who still had a hand shoving Officer Willow out the door, grasped firmly in the other. In the tunnels of time, I realized it was time we were traveling through now; Akastra and the time machine tumbled away from us. I could only continue to hold on to my companions as I continued falling through time.

A/N: Yay, now we're getting somewhere!