Giorgio didn't go next door to speak to Alan. In fact, he left HQ altogether.
He knew the VSSE would notice his absence soon enough, but it didn't matter. He just needed enough time to get to his destination, and then none of this would ever have happened anyway.
As before, he chartered transportation to the island (from the same person that he'd hired in the previous timeline, no less). This time, he had a tranquiliser gun with him instead.
According to the notes he'd collated from the previous timelines, although the portal had been opened back in June, the scientists wouldn't start kidnapping people for experiments for at least another month or two.
There would likely be some lab personnel manning the place, but he felt confident that he would be able to sneak past them (and knock them out, if necessary) without having to go in guns blazing.
His arrival in the lab went as well as it could have.
As Giorgio had predicted, the lab was manned by a skeleton crew at the moment, and it wasn't difficult for him to avoid most of them as he made his way through the place.
Retracing his footsteps from memory, he made his way to the portal room.
Giorgio took a deep breath, steeling himself.
These are the same scientists who were kidnapping innocent people to use as test subjects, he reminded himself. There's no need to feel guilty about getting a bit rough with them.
He wouldn't kill them, of course; even if their deaths would be undone in an instant, killing wasn't something to be done lightly.
But as for knocking them out…
For the first time since Evan's death (in this timeline), Giorgio found himself smiling a bit, anticipation welling up inside him.
A few minutes and a quick scuffle later, Giorgio was alone in the portal room, not counting the several unconscious scientists he'd shot with tranq darts.
Punching in the date 9 August 2013 yet again, he placed the tranq gun on the ground nearby, then stepped into the portal.
Hold on, Evan. I'm coming.
Evan is dead.
Evan is dead.
Evan is…
With a pained shout, Giorgio's eyes flew open. Cold sweat was dripping down his back, and his breath was coming in short gasps.
There was no Evan standing over him looking worried this time. No bright light from his ceiling waking him from the tangled memories he was trying to sort out.
Did it work? Am I back?
His heart was pounding far too quickly, and in the darkness of the room, it was as though he was back where he had been all week: alone in an empty apartment in a world where Evan was dead.
No… That's not true, I made it back, I know I did!
Control… He had to get himself under control. Just like whenever he was woken by his nightmares, except this time it was real.
Granted, there were times when the dreams plaguing him were worse than usual, leaving him terrified and thoroughly disoriented, too tangled up in his night terrors to be capable of rational thought.
On those nights, his nightmares rarely failed to disturb those around him as well; it was fortunate for everyone concerned that such nights were the exception rather than the norm.
But after years of dealing with bad dreams, he'd more or less developed a routine for handling the aftermath of nightmare–induced awakenings when he was lucid enough to do so.
And it was this routine that he clung to now, desperately trying to inject some normalcy into the visceral panic that threatened to swallow what little rationality he had at the moment.
With hands that were shaking more than he'd have liked, Giorgio scrabbled for his phone, fingers closing tightly around the device when he managed to grab hold of it.
As the screen lit up with a harsh yet oddly comforting glare, he squinted against the too–bright light, wanting (needing) to see what it said.
9 August 2013. 3.02 am.
A pang of relief filtered through the terror still gripping him, and he let out a shaky breath. He'd managed to nail the landing this time; he'd arrived on the right day, and he had some time to sort himself out before the Director was due to call.
Using the brief burst of illumination provided by his phone, he managed to locate the small lamp that sat on his bedside table. With a quick flick of the switch, the lamp's warm glow lit up the room, like a flickering candle against the demons that lurked in the shadows of his mind.
Alright. It's alright. It's 2013. You're safe in your bed, in your apartment at Headquarters. Evan isn't dead yet. He's alive and well, just a few doors away. Everything's fine. It's going to be fine.
Despite his attempt to ground himself in the reality of his surroundings, Giorgio was abruptly seized by an irrational urge to check on Evan right now, just to assure himself that his partner was still breathing.
Scrambling into an upright position, he shoved aside the covers that were tangled uncomfortably around his legs and stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping in his haste.
He was halfway to his apartment door before common sense kicked in.
No. Don't be stupid. Today's going to be a long day as it is. Let him sleep while he can, before the Director's call wakes him. You'll see him soon anyway. Besides, what are you planning to do? Freak him out by banging on his door in the middle of the night to check that he's alive?
Aware that his breathing was still far too quick and shallow, Giorgio made a beeline for the bathroom instead. Hunching over the sink, he turned on the tap, splashing a handful of cold water on his face as he tried to calm himself down.
The shock of the icy water against his feverish skin helped to wake him up somewhat, and something akin to logic began to replace the frenzied maelstrom clouding his mind.
Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against the basin of the sink, holding his head in his hands. He felt saner now; less inclined to do something stupid, at least.
Nonetheless, the nagging desire to see Evan still burned at the back of his mind, like an itch that just wouldn't go away.
Even as he stood there, he knew that he needed a way to occupy himself until the impending mission briefing. Otherwise, he would be at the mercy of his darkest thoughts, like a helpless child cowering away from the monsters under the bed.
Plagued by an endless loop of fear and doubt, he would become so worked up that he'd simply go mad… Or at least start the day (and this time travel attempt) on a very bad note.
Going back to sleep was obviously out of the question. Venturing elsewhere in Headquarters at this hour didn't seem like a particularly good idea either.
Suddenly, Giorgio remembered the USB stick.
Frantically plunging his hand into his pocket, he fished it out with a sigh of relief.
It would be some time before the Director called… He had enough time to review his notes until then; like studying for a final exam, he would go over every last bit of what he needed to know for this attempt.
This was already going to be his 3rd time dealing with Terror Bites. Giorgio was determined to make sure he didn't have to live through this mission a 4th time.
When the Director's call finally came, Giorgio hurried down to the briefing room to wait for Evan.
Evan arrived soon after, carrying two cups of coffee and looking wide awake despite the early hour. Upon seeing Giorgio, he did a double–take, blinking at the older agent in surprise.
"You're here before me, and you're actually awake? Is the world ending or something?"
Usually, this would be Giorgio's cue to fire back with a sarcastic response of his own. But as he stared at his (beautifully, mercifully alive) partner, it was taking everything he had to not break down right then and there.
Part of him wanted to beg Evan for forgiveness; to finally unburden himself of the crushing guilt that weighed heavily upon him (had it really only been a week since Evan's latest death? It felt like he had a lifetime of grief within him).
But this Evan knew nothing of his fate in the previous timeline; Giorgio knew that doing so would only frighten and confuse him.
"Gi?" Evan's teasing grin faded at Giorgio's lack of reply.
Placing both cups of coffee on the table, he studied his partner with concern. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Giorgio managed to say, blinking back the hot tears that threatened to fall. "I just… didn't sleep very well, that's all."
Without a word, Evan closed the distance between them, pulling Giorgio into a firm hug.
Swallowing thickly, Giorgio wrapped his arms around Evan in return, exhaling slowly as he allowed Evan's presence to ground him in reality.
Once he'd somewhat managed to get his emotions under control, Giorgio pulled away, hurriedly wiping at his eyes.
Taking his seat, Evan slid the cup of black coffee across the table towards Giorgio.
With a nod of thanks, Giorgio accepted the cup, taking a generous swallow of its bitter contents.
Neither of them mentioned the slight dampness to Evan's shirt, or the way Giorgio's hands shook slightly as he held his coffee in a white–knuckled grip.
This time, Giorgio did his best to sleep on the plane, knowing that he was already sleep deprived enough to affect his performance.
How did sleep deprivation work with one's body clock when time travelling anyway?
Nonetheless, if he counted the past two timelines and this one in succession, he hadn't really slept much since before Keith's death two timeline ago. In two weeks across three timelines, he'd had a total of one night's worth of interrupted sleep at most.
And so, Giorgio fell into an uneasy sleep, trying his best to rest before the mission began.
It seemed like it was only moments later that Evan was shaking him awake, telling him they'd landed in California.
As Giorgio rubbed his eyes tiredly and prepared to disembark, Evan turned to look at him worriedly.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Uh oh…
"I'm fine," Giorgio hurriedly replied. "Why do you ask?"
"You look exhausted," was Evan's reply.
Internally, Giorgio heaved a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Evan had seen him crying in his sleep or something else equally alarming.
"Is that all?" Giorgio let out a laugh. "Of course I'm tired, we got woken up in the middle of the night for this."
"Yeah, but…" Evan still didn't look convinced. "You seem more tired than usual. You look like you're about to collapse at any moment."
"I'm really fine, Evan, honestly," Giorgio insisted. "Come on. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can be done."
By now, Giorgio could memorise what was going to happen next. It was like watching a movie he'd seen several times, playing out in front of his very eyes. He didn't even need to pay attention to where they were going or what Captain Rush was saying anymore.
At the same time, he realised that Evan was right. The bone–deep exhaustion that clung to him slowed his reflexes, causing him to stumble where he shouldn't have and forcing him to rely on muscle memory to guide his way through the ensuing firefight.
In stark contrast to the previous timeline, where he had been on edge the entire time, Giorgio felt like he was sleepwalking through the entire mission today.
From the looks Evan kept giving him, it probably showed in his lacklustre performance as well.
Finally, at long last, they were done.
Was the first day of this mission always so long? I could have sworn we should be done by now.
Rush dismissed them, and they made their way to the same motel to rest (Giorgio was as sick of the motel as he was of Terror Bites by now).
"I'll talk to the Director," Evan said before Giorgio could pull out his phone.
What?
"What do you…" Giorgio winced as he felt himself swaying a bit, putting a hand out to catch himself.
In response, Evan gave him a pointed look.
"That's exactly what I mean. You're half–dead with exhaustion. Don't think I didn't notice how much you were struggling earlier during the firefight. I'll report in to the Director, and you're going to get into that bed and get some sleep."
"This is a bit of a role reversal, isn't it?" Giorgio commented with a laugh. "Not going to say 'I told you so'?"
Evan rolled his eyes. "Would it make you feel better if I did? Now go to bed."
With a sigh, Giorgio crawled into bed, marvelling at how even the crappy motel room bed seemed so comfortable at the moment.
It occurred to him that he had been so delirious with exhaustion that he hadn't even had the energy to worry about Evan dying today.
Perhaps Evan is going to be alright after all. Maybe I won't have to worry about him dying tomorrow…
With that thought, Giorgio drifted off to sleep.