And a quick update. I have heard you had exam week over there. I hope they've gone well. Maybe you're worried about the lack of Bering and Wells interaction in this one (lack of reviews show that). Well, that's the last chapter without them. From now one, that'll change.

Thanks to Aimofdestiny for the beta.

2014

Claudia smached her lips sleepily while waking up. Then she groaned in reaction to the pain in her neck and quickly opened her eyes.

Artie's office. At least the shape looked like it, because now it wasn't just covered in the remaining leftovers of HG's and Steve's candy excess, but also in a lot of more files and some random, not particularly dangerous artifacts. The redhead looked around to spot Steve lying on one of those couches, a file covering his face.

They had fallen asleep over research for Claudia's 'find Mrs. F an artifact' problem. And of course they hadn't come even a single step closer to its resolution. The outcome for Claudia was a stiff and sore neck, because the caretaker had fallen asleep on one of those plastic chairs in front of her computer an-

"HELL, THAT HURTS!" Claudia groaned again and rubbed her neck in hopes to soothe this agony, but failed entirely.

"Watch the birds!" Steve jolted upright on the couch, sending the file flying through the room. Its papers flew everywhere and then it collided with the green cupboard. Weakly, Claudia applauded.

"9.8 points for Mr. Jinks. The jury is impressed by his technique." She stated.

Jinks looked around the room, seeming to struggle with recognising where he was.

"Artie's office." Claudia tried to help him find his memory.

"Ah." He said while staring at the floor and the files on it. Then, he suddenly looked a little more awake. "It's a mess."

"Well, you and HG started this; we only continued your attempt to turn the office into modern art. I know I'm the mother hen here and I should probably make you keep Artie's office clean while he's gone or something. But actually, that's not my division." She said, while slowly rising from the chair, trying to avoid moving her neck.

"Coffee." The redhead mumbled and headed for the small kitchen. She shot a quick look at the digital clock on the microwave. "Oh god, Jinksy, we spent all night here."

She heard a loud bang and poked her head out of the kitchen. Steve had collided with a shelf.

"You do look like you need coffee, too." The caretaker declared, mustering him rubbing his forehead. "Or is that not Zen?"

He blinked at her, it wasn't very clear if he was confused or just numbed by the pain. "Zen?"

"The buddhism thing. Does it go with coffee?" Claudia thoughtfully narrowed her eyes at Steve.

Her friend suddenly groaned a little and squeezed his eyes shut, while massaging his temples.

"Steve?" Suddenly, Claudia was worried. "Is everything alright?"

"Headache." He replied through his teeth, still massaging his head.

"Well, my friend, you just ran straight into a shelf!" Shrugging, Claudia waved her hands in direction of the mentioned object right in front of him. "With your head first!"

He now started rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. "Yeah, you're right. It's just..." He opened his eyes. "Okay, now it's gone."

He looked up at his friend and then passed her, heading for the water boiler in the kitchen. Immediately, he started setting it up. "I think caffeine will make me 'Zen' enough to clean this mess we caused. But I prefer Chai."

2044

Sarah strode out of the locker with ground-eating steps, followed closely by Paul. The boy made a quick grab for her shoulder, trying to hold her back. She spun around to glare at him with her eyes widened, tears forming in them. The older child really didn't want to hear what he was about to say.

"Sarah, trust me, this is different." Paul gently pulled her into a tight hug. She started fighting him, shifting, trying to get some space between them, but he was so tall and strong. "I know... I know that you're worried and I know that you're struggling. I kno-"

"No!" She interrupted him and tried to pull away but he didn't let her go. "You know nothing about this. You know nothing about this, Paul. There are only three people who remember my time travel and you aren't one of them. You aren't one of them. So don't even dare to say you know what it feels like." Finally, she could grab his arm and twist it a little. She knew he was as good in martial arts as her, but she didn't care.

Now he gave her some space, she turned around, away from him, rubbing her forehead.

"Then tell me." He pleaded. "Sarah, tell me. Tell me what you're struggling with. I want to help you."

She shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "I can't." She didn't even dare to think about this, about what she'd seen. About what she had caused. Sarah had struggled with the circumstances of her time travel and the outcome for the last five years. She was the only one to remember. The only one who knew that her parent's story had been a different one. And that she had changed it. She didn't know how, because she had been busy with something completely different back then. But it was discovering her culpability, slowly, step by step, that had hurt her.

"Sarah." Her brother placed his hand on her shoulder again, this time more softly. "Do you really think I can't see that something's gnawing at you? Do you really think I don't know that after your time travel, you started looking at our parents differently? Do you really think I don't know that you ran away three years ago after Artie died? You're doing reading sessions, I know, but Sarah, I'm not dumb. You're afraid your family is falling apart and you don't dare sharing your dark secret with us."

His sister only looked up to the ceiling, blinking away her tears and pulling her shoulder away from his hand.

"Damn it, Sarah. Talk to me, for crying out loud! I'm your brother, I'm here to help you!" Paul yelled desperately.

Slowly, his sister turned around. She looked at him, her eyes reddened. There were no tears falling. The girl had managed to blink them away.

"You cannot help me with this, Paul." Sarah lowered her gaze to the ground, avoiding his eyes while talking. "That's the problem. There is nothing to help, there's nothing to change. There can't be anything undone or set right."

"Set right?" He glared at her, confused. "Sarah, do you know what you're saying? You've set everything right. I know you've seen awful things during your time travel. You've seen our mother die, again and again. But remember, focus: You saved her."

"After I killed her!" Sarah yelled at him. "I killed her, Paul. I was the damn cause! Don't tell me this story had a good ending."

"But you undid it. You set that right. It's more than five years later and mom is alright. She's alive. Well, she's currently upstairs, frozen in stone, but she's alright. You didn't change anything." The older child could tell that Paul was utterly bewildered by her words.

"Yes, you're right." Sarah waved her hands in dismissal and tried to turn around but he didn't let her go. "I didn't change anything."

"Ferret." He said, his voice strict. "You don't have to carry this burden alone. Whatever it is. I am your brother, your family. Share with me!"

Sarah inhaled the air deeply and looked at him with her glistening green eyes. There was his typical slight, almost unrecognisable smile he kept showing when he scrutinized someone's aura. When he observed one's thoughts without knowing them, when he started knowing more about one than one knew oneself.

There was no point in lying to him or in keeping this secret from him, now that he had started looking at her like this. With his eyes sad, his face showing that he was flustered, but still the corners of his mouth curving upwards slightly. He watched Sarah, thinking.

"I undid the accident that killed mom." The girl spoke slowly, like she was trying out what those words sounded like. Like she could agree on telling this lie to herself. Even though she knew better, she knew that she had also caused this accident. "You are right, Paul. But there is more to it. More, and I don't know how to tell you without sounding insane."

"Try." He simply waved his hand a little. She was glad he didn't actually verbally express that every story in the Warehouse sounded a little insane.

"Mom, momma and I, we're all connected to this watch. You know that. Because our grief gave birth to this artifact. On the day that didn't happen because I undid it even though I caused it." Sarah stared at the tips of her boots while talking. She struggled with finding words.

Paul nodded, understanding. "I know. That's why you remember and I don't."

"Yes. But there is something they don't remember. But I do. I think mom knows what happened and maybe she told momma already. But they don't talk about it because we're all well now. I'm the only one to remember, Paul." She looked deeply into his eyes while fighting her tears.

"Remember what?" He asked, shrugging a little, helpless.

"That their past was a different one. That the stories they've told about themselves were different than they are now. That mom used to have a scar on her stomach she now lacks. Instead she has a scar on her shoulder. The one I caused. But the scar on her stomach is missing, because that part of their story is missing. Because it changed." Sarah sniffed.

"What are you trying to say?" Her brother blinked in confusion, but she could see how his eyes darted to that fine silver line on her face, under her eye. The small scar that had showed up on her face after her time travel. It was almost invisible, but Sarah saw it every day in the mirror, and was reminded of what had happened.

"That Agent Myka Bering was once shot in the Warehouse. To be precise, it was the day Claudia became caretaker. Mom was shot and momma was so afraid she might die that day that she declared her love to her. Mom survived barely, but kept a scar on her stomach from that day. I do remember this story. I'm the only one." The girl explained.

"Sarah, mom never got shot in the Warehouse." Paul's voice showed that his confusion was growing.

"Yes, you're right Paul. She never got shot in the Warehouse. Because I changed that part. Now they tell a different story. About that hotel in New York. I know. I know both stories because I'm the only one to remember that they used to tell a different one. I didn't wake up in a different future. The butterfly effect wasn't strong enough to change it completely. But their stories have changed Paul, because I changed their past." She looked up at him, the tears now running freely. "So, I would appreciate not having to travel through time anymore." She slowly turned around and walked away. Her brother was silent and she appreciated it. There had to be a different solution.

"The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible." Sarah froze at Paul's words. He made a brief pause and then went on speaking, his voice was strong and booming, and he sounded a little proud. His sister had no idea why.

"I've seen that artifact you've come into contact with, Sarah. I've seen that watch. Its aura... The whole thing. It's such a powerful artifact. That isn't normal, Ferret. Nothing like that is normal, even in the Warehouse. Even here that artifact is not normal." She could hear him taking a step closer. "Nothing is comparable to it. Maybe it is because the women who made it appear are as powerful as the artifact. Especially you, kettle kid. I don't know. But I know a lot about momma's time machine. I've rebuilt it, made it better. And this machine follows one rule, this one important rule: The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible." Now he took a few more steps towards her, closing the gap between them and putting his hand on her shoulder. "You cannot change anything with it. No matter how hard you try. Everything that has happened that day has already happened."

She slowly turned around and focussed him.

"The only way to change something, to undo things, is to not go into the time machine. To not go there. Ferret, I don't want to say this, but it's like you already climbed into the machine. You've already been there. It has already happened. So you cannot change a thing." Paul carefully brushed a wild curl of Sarah's hair behind her ear. She shivered. She knew what he was saying; she understood. But she couldn't even think about time travelling again.

"Paul, I can't."

"What if... what if you caused things back then, important things... that caused our present? What if you made our present happen, Sarah?" Sarah looked up at him, thinking about this. Was this different from changing their past? What did it mean?

"Claudia said that our parents updated her on the events. They know something, they know you've been there. Don't you think there's a reason they've never told us? A reason why Claudia never told us? Maybe they want it to happen." He slowly tilted his head. "The only way you could ruin our present is by not using the time machine."

His sister only stared at him, pondering over his words. Of course Paul had chosen his words wisely, he knew what to say to make her actually think about doing what he had asked her to do. When so much really depended on her, what could she do to let it happen differently? And there was still the question of rescuing their family upstairs without the time machine. It was impossible. Claudia had shown them a way. She was the caretaker, for crying out loud. Even though she sometimes behaved like a ten year old child, even though she always made silly references to movies and old TV shows, she was the wisest woman Sarah had ever met. And Sarah had met Mrs. Frederic, even before the woman had become this ill. Claudia had shown the Bering-Wells children a way. A path that it was absolutely essential she take.

Suddenly, the older child could see the slight smile on her brother's face growing. She was sure he had watched her aura while she had been thinking.

"God, you're so much like your mother." Paul grinned and patted Sarah's shoulder.

"Which one?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Both of them, actually."

Yes, the numbers in this one are okay. You haven't read wrong.