Mavis's POV

I follow Elise to the plant. While I'm a little worried about making direct contact with her, this is clearly the best way to learn more about the situation. I need to learn everything I can about the plant, and technically about Elise too. Anything that could impact the future.

"So Elise," I begin awkwardly, struggling to keep up with her fast pace. "How long have you been running the plant?"

"You mean actually coming to the place and working in an office? Two years. And my first day was the day of my high school graduation."

My eyes widen in surprise. "You-you've been running this place right out of high school?"

Elise nods. "Mmm hmm. My stepdad offered me a job to pay for school. "We EARN our living, not BORROW it!" is what he always says."

I hesitate. "Wow…th-that's…" I'm actually really unsure of what to say here, but I've already started my sentence, so I lamely finish, "…harsh…"

Elise gave a chuckle. "Heh, my stepdad has always been like that."

I frown, thinking about how lucky I am that my father didn't force me to get a job as early as end of high school. In fact, he was still willing to pay for everything for me while I searched for a job. Luckily, I found one at OWCA fairly quickly, to the disgruntlement of my dad, who didn't want me to put my life in danger like my brother, which I found unfair.

"So what did you mean by using my plant?" asks Elise, breaking me out of my memories.

"Well…" I hesitate, not wanting to damage the timeline by giving Elise too much future knowledge. "There's an evil organisation where I come from that has done something to the cola here. It's…hurt a load of my friends…" I wipe my eyes hastily as tears threaten them. "…i-including my b-brother…"

I squeeze my eyes shut to try and avoid crying at the thought of my brother. Poor Monty…if he's still awake inside his mind, he'll be wondering where I am and why I'm not there talking to him…oh, Monty…I wish I could tell you I'm trying to make sure what happened to you does NOT happen in the first place…

Elise frowned. "And I take it these friends and brother are in the future?"

I nod, and watch as the cogs grind round in her head.

"If someone were to try to get in without any suspicion, it would be through the warehouse-."

The ringing of a phone interrupts her. Elise groans in annoyance.

"You should probably get that," I say shyly.

Elise picks up the phone and listens for a few seconds. Then a grimace of disgust appears in her face. Finally, she puts her fingers over the mouthpiece for a moment. "You might wanna go check out the warehouse. Because trust me, you don't want an earful of what's next."

I nod. "I believe you."

Elise keeps her hand over the mouthpiece a moment longer. "If anyone challenges you, just tell them Elise sent you. If they don't believe you, I'll come and sort them out later."

I nod again. "Thank you."

…

When I get to the warehouse, I start my investigation. Turning on my watch while nobody is around, I say, "Is anyone on the line?"

Static.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout," I sing in an annoyingly high-pitched tone. "Here's my handle, here's my spout. When-."

"Alright, I'm here!" comes a female voice I recognise with delight. "When are you going to realise-."

"Meredith!" I gasp delightedly. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Coming to look after Monty, mostly," sighs Meredith. "But also, things aren't going too well over here."

I swallow nervously, my heart suddenly going cold. "Wh-who else is down?"

I hear Meredith sigh. "Agent P's other owner."

"Phineas Flynn?" I gasp, freezing.

"Just the latest in a series of incidents in their neighbourhood. Soon, another intelligence organisation is going to suspect something."

I groan, holding my cool hand against my burning forehead. "This is a disaster…i-is everyone else at OWCA still okay?"

"It's been killing Marius and me, but we haven't drank any cola since you warned us about it. But…" Meredith hesitated. "Kane thinks we could still be affected because we both drank a cola just an hour before you warned us."

I momentarily stop breathing out of shock. "W-well, keep updating me okay?"

"Okay." I can hear a grin in Meredith's voice. "Oh, and I think there are two someones here that want to say hello."

There's a brief pause, before I hear a baby voice yell, "Mommy!"

My heart officially stops for a few seconds. "K-Kaitlyn…?!"

"Where Mommy?" cries a different voice.

"D-Darcy…!" I whisper.

Even though my twins are only six months old, I can tell the difference between their voices. That's how I could tell that two different voices spoke, even though they both sound like six-month-old girls, which is what they are.

"Hey, girls!" I whisper. "How are we doing?"

"Miss Mommy!" wails Kaitlyn. "Where Mommy go?"

"I…M-Mommy'll be back soon…"

Darcy starts crying. "Mommy!"

I feel my heart ache, being able to hear my daughter cry but not being able to reach out and comfort her. "Mommy's okay, girls. I-I promise!"

The crying gets quieter and then stops, then my twin brother's voice comes on: "Hey, Mavie."

"Marius…" I'm in the middle of crying, myself. I take a few seconds to attempt to clear my vision, but I can't stop crying, so I stop trying to calm myself down. "H-hi…"

"I know this is difficult," Marius says quietly, his voice sounding hoarse. "But you've got to soldier on. For the sake of everyone who's been affected. At the risk of sounding cliché, you're our only hope, Mavie."

I nod tearfully. "You're right…thanks, Marius."

No reply.

"M-Marius…?"

I hear a sharp intake of breath, sounding like someone in pain, and then a thump sound.

"Marius!" I cry in alarm. "MARIUS!"

There's silence for a few seconds, then I hear clamouring and hushed voices. "Somebody tell me what's going on!" I cry.

"M-M-Marius…" comes Meredith's extremely shaky voice. "He-he's collapsed…"

"He's been affected?!"

"Y-yes…" Meredith sounds like she's crying. "I'm sorry, but we have to sign off. We'll keep you posted."

"Meredith…!"

But in the time it takes me to say her name, she's gone. There is no sound from my watch.

I take in a shaky breath and stumble forwards a few steps, trying to wrap my head around what has just happened. I continue blindly forwards, before bumping into someone. I almost fall backwards, but the person catches me smoothly.

"Oh, I am sorry! Are you alright?"

The man sets me upright. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, determined to stay strong. "I'm fine, thanks. And don't worry about it; it was my own fault."

I open my eyes properly and regard my saviour. He is clearly European—possibly Spanish, with black hair and tanned skin. I can't help feeling I should know him, but I don't recognise him.

"I'm Mavis," I say, giving a weak smile.

"Rod," replies the man, smiling back. "And are you sure you are okay?"

"Yeah…" I nod. "I was just distracted. So anyway, do you work here?"

Rod nods. "Yes, but only recently."

"You're a new employee?"

Rod nods again. "That is correct."

"Ah…" I hesitate. "Forgive me for asking, but are you Spanish?"

"Venezuelan," Rod replies. "Do you work here too?"

I shake my head. "I am here on an investigation, with Elise's permission, of course." Even as I say it, I bite my lip. I get the feeling that I shouldn't have said that…

"An investigation?" Rod's eyes light up. "What kind of investigation?"

"That…that's classified," I tell him, sensing that it's the right thing to do. "Sorry."

Rod looks half-disappointed. "Okay."

I smile briefly at him. "I need to go and gather information about the plant, now. See you around."

I leave him alone, my mind buzzing.

Why did I get the feeling that I know him?