"Great. Okay, first, Lily's asleep, so you can lay her back down. Make the bed look like there's someone in it. I'll do the same for the couch bed. Meet in here in a few minutes."

Helen nodded. "I will."

"Good. I'll get the time device."

"I'll lay Lily down."

Dakota nodded silently, slinking up the stairs to Cavendish's room.

Helen gently took up Lily and headed upstairs too.

Dakota checked to make sure that Cavendish was entertained. He could hear him washing his hands in the bathroom. Perfect. He darted in, grabbed the device, raced out, and just about managed to dart down the stairs before he heard the door open.

Cavendish paused. He could have sworn he heard something…

No. It was probably nothing.

Dakota grinned at Helen. "Are we ready?"

Helen nodded. "Yes. Lily is asleep in her cradle."

Dakota rubbed his hands together in a joking way. "Excellent. Are we ready?"

Helen smirked. "Yes."

"Right, Helen, hold very still; don't want you falling out of the time bubble."

Helen nodded and stayed close to Dakota.

"Ready?" Dakota asked with a beaming smile.

"Ready."

Pressing the big red button on the time device, Dakota smiled, and they were consumed by a white bubble.

Helen stumbled again as she landed on her feet.

"Welcome to 2017." Dakota said with a grin. "Corruption, wars, and lots of other stuff I won't get into. But there's a lot of good here, too. Like, there!" He pointed out a group of young children skipping down the sidewalk, their mother following them. "Mrs. Lins and her children. She walks them to school every day, rain or shine."

"Awww," cooed Helen, beaming.

"And over there, Old Mr. Dokil is being visited by his next door neighbour's son, who comes every Friday to mow his lawn and listen to him talk about the good old days." Dakota pointed at an older gentleman in his eighties speaking to a young man of about twenty.

"2017 sounds a lot better than 2090," commented Helen dryly.

Dakota sighed. "You're not wrong."

"So where is my descendant?"

"He should be right-"

He was cut off by an explosion.

Helen screamed.

"Oh yeah- he's coming."

"D-Dakota," croaked Helen.

Dakota spun round to find a sharp shard of metal sticking out from Helen's side.

Dakota's eyes widened. "Oh-!"

There was a large bloodied wound on her forehead, and a metal pipe lying on the ground next to them. A shard was missing from it. Clearly, it was the shard in Helen's side.

Dakota stared at her with a gaping mouth, then at the burning building behind them.

Then Helen's knees buckled, and she sagged.

"Helen!" Dakota caught her before she could hit the ground. He turned to call for help, but saw Milo and his friends walking down the street. He gritted his teeth.

He knew they had to go—and quickly.

Before he could do anything, he heard a creaking sound and looked up. To his horror, he saw an advertisement sign leaning as if it was about to fall right on top of them. He hurriedly took out the time travel device and activated it.

The bubble surrounded them, but not before Dakota felt the sign hit his shoulder, jarring the bone. Helen let out another scream, one that was still sounding when they arrived back in their original time. She and Dakota fell on the floor in the living room, both hurting from the incident.

Cavendish appeared from the stairs. "What is going-?!" He broke off when he saw the blood on the floor.

Dakota groaned, pushing himself to his hands and knees and ignoring the pain in his shoulder. "Helen-!"

"Helen!" yelled Cavendish, rushing down the stairs.

"Milo…" Dakota croaked, helping lift Helen off of the floor.

"What the hell-?!" Cavendish glared at Dakota. "You took her back to 2017?!"

"I-I-"

Ignoring the fact that Dakota was hurt, Cavendish's glare intensified. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO!"

"I-I m-made him," croaked Helen. "D-Don't be m-mad a-at him…"

Dakota bowed his head. "I-I know-"

"P-Please don't be m-mad at him!" Helen begged. "It w-was m-my fault."

Cavendish ignored her, glaring hard at Dakota. "I told you not to..."

"It's not his-!" Helen broke off with a cry of pain.

"J-Just take her somewhere," Dakota said.

Helen let out one more soft cry, before falling back. Cavendish lifted her off the floor, holding her close as he carried her up the stairs. Dakota watched him go, hating himself.

Cavendish laid her gently in the bed, then began to look her over.

She was unconscious by now, but still breathing.

Cavendish groaned aloud. He was not a doctor. But he did know how to stop bleeding, and vaguely knew how to stitch up a wound. He could do that. First, he removed the metal from the wound.

Helen screamed, jerking awake, as the shard slid free.

"Stay still!" Cavendish snapped.

"YOU TRY STAYING STILL WHEN A SHARD OF METAL IS PULLED OUT OF YOUR SIDE!" screamed Helen.

"Do you want to live or not?!" Cavendish yelled.

Helen didn't say anything else, but she did begin crying.

Cavendish began to stitch her wound, shushing her cries. "Hold still, and I'll finish quicker."

"I'm...t-t-t-trying..."

"Try harder for me," Cavendish said softly.

Helen tried for a smirk but failed. "Why...is that...more motivation?"

Despite the situation, Cavendish managed a smirk. "Well, I'm the one saving your life."

Helen hummed. "That's true."

When Cavendish had was finished, he looked at the wound on her forehead. "What exactly happened, then?"

"There was an explosion," recalled Helen. "I...don't remember much about it."

"I told you not to go, didn't I?"

"I-I know," Helen whispered. "I...I didn't know...it would...b-be like that..."

"You could have been killed." Cavendish sighed. "I don't know what you two were thinking."

Helen scowled. "I don't answer to you."

"As long as you live under this roof, you do."

Helen's scowl turned into a glare. "No, I don't."

"Yes, I'm afraid you do." Cavendish insisted. "Because here, you need to know what's dangerous and what's not."

"I do know."

"Apparently not," Cavendish muttered bitterly. "You should never have done what you did."

"Then just leave me to bleed out, already!" snapped Helen. "You clearly hate me!"

Cavendish froze. "What...?"

Helen tried and failed not to cry. "Ever since we met, you've been telling me what to do and being nasty to me! I know I have insulted and attacked you too, but I am trying to make an effort! J-Just stop...!" She dissolved into tears.

Cavendish stared at her. "Helen...I never meant..."

"I-I don't know if this is what you are like all the time, but..." Helen cleared her throat. "...but I-I feel anxious whenever I am around you. I keep feeling like you're going to tell me off or stop me from doing something or yell at me."

"I..." Cavendish bowed his head. She was right. He had been needlessly rude. "Helen, I'm sorry."

Helen just shook her head helplessly. "Just...leave me to bleed out. I have nobody in this world. My husband is dead, my children have been taken from me..."

"No." Cavendish shook his head. "You are still needed."

"By whom?" asked Helen miserably.

"Well..." Cavendish was distracted by coos coming from Lily's crib. Biting his lip, he went over to the cradle. Lily looked up at him, chewing on her hand. His shoulders sagged.

"Balthazar...?" came Helen's weak voice.

"Yes?" He whispered quietly.

Helen desperately wanted to ask whose Lily was, but instead, she said, "Is Lily from this time period?"

"Yes." Cavendish answered quietly.

Helen nodded slowly and fell silent.

"She...needed someone who could keep her safe from certain people."

"Oh." Helen blinked. "Who?"

"Well...she..." Cavendish hesitated. Helen already knew about Milo… Was it wise to tell her about another future family member?

"You...don't have to tell me," Helen said quickly.

"She's...a descendant of yours."

"Oh..." Helen bit her lip. "A-Ah..."

Cavendish sighed. "Lily was born with...powers, you could say. Too dangerous to be with people who could not train her. And...she needed to be away from people who might use her to do terrible things."

"Powers...?!"

Cavendish nodded, picking up the baby.

"W-Wow..." Helen hesitated.

"It's...a lot to take in, I know," Cavendish said quietly.

"You can say that again..."

"But it's the truth."

"I do believe you."

Cavendish slowly turned to face her. "You...do?"

Helen nodded. "I have no reason not to."

"Then...you understand, then?"

"I..." Helen hesitated. "I understand that such powers must be kept in safe hands."

Cavendish nodded. "And...from what I saw earlier...I think you might be best person to raise her."

Helen's eyes widened. "What...?"

Cavendish looked at her with pleading eyes. "Will you?"

"I-I...I..." Helen bit her lip. "I will."

"We'll pay for anything you need," Cavendish promised. "We'll ask for no rent."

"I-I can't ask that..."

"Really, you can stay." Cavendish managed a shy smile. "I...I want you to stay."

Helen hesitated. "You...do?"

Cavendish nodded awkwardly. "I...do."

"Why...?"

"I just...er..." Cavendish shrugged helplessly.

Helen laughed softly. "You don't LIKE me, do you?"

Cavendish hesitated. "Well...you are a...um...a rather handsome woman..."

Helen giggled. "Handsome? You can do better than that."

"You're...beautiful."

Helen blushed and shut her mouth, speechless.

"I-I mean- in a purely professional way, but-"

"Professional?" Helen giggled weakly. "Sure."

"Really." Cavendish urged.

Helen just giggled again.

"Well I mean...yeah." He sighed.

"You are not bad-looking yourself," Helen said.

Cavendish blushed. "Really? Even the mustache?"

Helen shrugged. "You look like a gentleman."

"Thank you..." Cavendish said awkwardly.

"Even though you don't behave like one," Helen chuckled.

Cavendish smirked. "Thank you..."

Helen exhaled deeply. "I...I think I need to rest."

"Yes...you do that. Do you mind...Lily resting with you?"

Helen shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Thanks."

Cavendish laid the baby in her arms. Lily cooed up at Helen.

Helen chuckled. "Will you take another nap, little one?"

As if replying, Lily yawned.

Helen smirked, wincing as she rolled herself to her side, wrapping the baby in the crook of her arm. Within a few seconds, Lily was peacefully sleeping.