An Alternate Life AU

Chapter 9 About Bogg

Real

Jeff had been leaning forward, his full concentration on the screen before him. After the screen went blank, he sat back in the chair, a half-surprised, half-shocked look on his face. He closed his mouth as he remembered a brief scene from his last mission with Bogg.

In the Real Past

"Hey look!" Phineas said as their eyes became accustomed to the dim light. Jeff looked up and noticed him pointing at a piano across the room.

"What about it?" Jeff asked.

"I wonder if it's in tune?" Bogg asked walking over and touching the top of the instrument.

"What's the difference, you can't play it anyway," Jeff said as he continued walking toward a desk at the far end of the room. Phineas followed him and they noticed no one was around.

"Sure I can," Bogg answered.

"Oh come on Bogg, there's no way you can play."

"Why not?" Bogg said indignantly.

Jeff rolled his eyes, "because you have to practice a lot," he paused, "and you aren't exactly known for being studious."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, and one thing is that I play the piano!" Phineas answered with irritation.

"Okay then, play something," Jeff challenged.

Phineas hesitated, "well, I can't just sit down and..."

"Give it up Bogg," Jeff interrupted him, "come on, let's go outside, we aren't gonna solve the red light in here."

Bogg looked back at the piano and sighed, then followed Jeff toward the stairs.

Real universe, present time

Jeff hadn't believed him when he'd said he could play the piano. At the time he hadn't given any thought to his comments, but now he wondered if he'd hurt Bogg's feelings. How could he not know this about his partner, they'd been together for almost four years.

"Hey Jeff!" Daryl poked him hard with his index finger, "what's up?"

Jeff looked at him, but spoke to the technician as he re-entered the booth. "Is everything about the person true in these timelines?"

"People's reactions are based on what we know about them and how the computer thinks they'll respond to…"

"No, I mean, could someone have a talent, like playing a musical instrument in the alternate timeline that they didn't have in the real one?"

He shook his head, "no, we don't create or change people, this machine just predicts how they would most likely act in a new situation."

"Oh."

Daryl glanced at Jeff several times as they walked away, as if he was trying to understand what was happening. "What's wrong?" he finally asked.

"I didn't know Bogg could play the piano."

"Not very well, no wonder he kept it a secret," Daryl chuckled.

Jeff bristled, "well he goes years without practicing, what do you expect!"

"Okay, calm down!"

They continued on in silence, and when they reached the cafeteria, Jeff picked up a sandwich and continued on to the apartment. He sat down at the small kitchen table and started to eat. Suddenly the phrase Trevor Dillon had spoken came to the front of his mind. He seems to be fine. All of a sudden that phrase didn't sound quite so comforting. Suddenly, Jeff could think of many ways that a voyager could be in danger, even injured, that would appear fine to their tracker. He put his sandwich down on the plate and stared at it, wondering if Bogg was hungry.

As the evening wore on, he found himself thinking about Dan Steel. Dan had forced him to take eight trips through the cosmos within one hour, knowing it would make him sick. Bogg would never have done that… didn't do that. Bogg had just kept solving red lights. Obviously he'd been able to trigger the Recall Function if he'd wanted to, but as far as Jeffrey knew, he hadn't even considered it. Jeff was sure he knew the reason. Bogg would never intentionally cause harm to anyone. Obviously the same wasn't true for Dan. Jeff had often made fun of Bogg for being too kind hearted, especially where women were concerned, but maybe that was an asset instead of a liability. And Dan had been terrified that he had a kid with him, but Jeff couldn't remember Bogg ever seeming afraid about traveling with a kid.

Jeff lay down while these thought circled inside his head. For the first time since Bogg had left, he realized how much he missed him. He said a quiet prayer for Bogg's safety before he drifted off to sleep.