Oh look! It's Bering and Wells. I'm so sorry actual interaction between them needed that much time. But, well, I had to prepare one of two things so it could go the way it's supposed to go. It's not like they are easy to handle. Just saying: There will be so much time travel shitfuckery in this one. I'm so utterly happy (writing already chapter 18 and coming slooooowly to the end *happy sigh*... oh and don't worry: Yes, they'll become a couple in this one and it will happen soon. :))

Thanks to Aimofdestiny for the beta.

2014

Myka almost flopped down face first onto her bed but then thought better of it. That bed was still broken, probably it would fall apart completely if she did that. So the agent carefully lowered herself onto it to bury her face against the pillow and let out a muffled groan. The trip to the B&B had been exhausting, but she didn't feel that she'd be able to rest properly now.

Pete had sent her home after telling her that he would take the artifact to the Warehouse so she could get some 'me-time' as he had expressed it.

Myka had avoided 'me-time' during the last weeks because it always led to her losing her head, overthinking the situation with Helena. Now wasn't any different.

Her friend's words had had a huge impact in Myka's mind. Maybe she really did think too much about this future and time travel thing. Before it had happened, the agent hadn't lost any thought about children. Why should she now? Clearly, it wasn't like Myka was ready for children herself. Why should she waste that much energy thinking about finding ways to talk Helena into it? Especially considering the fact that Helena was further away from thinking about children than herself. Maybe Myka's mind had taken a few too steps too far into this too quickly. Future thoughts were for the future, right? As long as they weren't about building loan contracts or pension funds or anything like that.

Maybe she should start thinking about getting Helena to date her instead. Dating HG sounded good, especially now that she was indeed back to the Warehouse. Why not put some effort into that? And maybe dating could lead to a different future - one which was still a good future? There they were again, those thoughts about the future. She should really stop having them. Myka internally laughed at herself. Maybe she should try making money with that. Losing her head over the future. Fortuneteller Myka Bering will not tell you your future - but she will worry a lot about it if you want.

Okay, distraction!

The agent rose from her bed as carefully as she had lain down on it and left her room, taking the stairs down and heading the library.

In the hall, as she passed the living room door, she froze at the words of a young voice she knew well:

"Agent Bering!"

Myka turned her long neck to look into the living room. There on the couch, setting up a board game on the coffee table, sat Adelaide, smiling shyly at her.

"Oh!" Myka gave her a friendly but insecure smile. "Hello, Adelaide." The agent walked into the living room slowly, eyeing the girl carefully. Adelaide rose from the couch and reached out her small hand to shake hers.

"I'm here with Helena for a few days." The child seemed to have the need to explain her presence. "We sometimes meet like this: sleepovers, board games, lectures on science, Indian food. Dad brought me here."

"Ah! That's... nice, Adelaide. I think Helena appreciates that." Myka's eyes immediately started darting through the room. "Where is she, by the way?" The agent had the feeling that Adelaide narrowed her eyes at her for a second, but then the girl shrugged and pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Kitchen. Tea."

Myka's head turned into the direction of the kitchen's door and she became a little nervous.

"So..." She briefly bit her lip. "Then... you two will have fun... I guess."

The girl tilted her heard while looking thoughtfully at her. The curly haired woman got a strange feeling at her gaze and took a step back. To go to the library. Yes.

"We're about to play some Scrabble, Agent Bering. Would you maybe... like to join us?" The girl asked with a very careful tone of voice.

"Oh... Adelaide. I- I-" Wonderful, now she'd started stuttering in front of Adelaide. Myka struggled to keep herself from rolling her eyes at herself. "I don't want to bother you two, I mean... you probably want some time alone with He-"

"HELENA!" Adelaide suddenly yelled into the direction of the kitchen, causing Myka to jump almost imperceptibly.

"Yes, dear?" The Victorian's head appeared in the door between the kitchen and the living room. She looked at Adelaide and then her eyes widened as she spotted Myka. "Oh, hello, Myka." Trying hard to look casual, Myka waved weakly at her.

"Is it okay if Agent Bering joins our Scrabble game? I asked her but she's concerned you wouldn't want her. But I think a third player would be awesome. I believe Miss Bering has a good vocabulary, so she can check on your made-up 'I'm a British novelist from the Victorian age' words." The girl pleaded.

HG eyed Myka with slightly furrowed eyebrows, looking quite nervous as well. "Well, Adelaide. Does she want to? Do you want to play Scrabble with us, Myka?"

The younger agent's eyes wandered from Helena to Adelaide to the coffee table with the board game and then again to Adelaide, avoiding to look at Helena for a second time.

Okay, here it is, Agent Bering! Was that Pete's voice inside her head? The chance to get the booty. It really was. Now you can take an innocent step in her direction, cling to her and show her that you would like to have her in your life. Myka swallowed. Hard.

Pete's voice became now a little angrier. Don't let her go again!

Myka's eyes darted up, meeting Helena's, who now leaned in the door frame, waiting for her answer.

"Sure..." The younger woman shrugged a little. "Why not? I mean... I was about to read a little but since you two are here... Why spend my time all alone?"

2044

"So, Claudia says I was with her?" Sarah asked while plugging in a cable into the time machine. Paul had told her what to do; following instructions was easy enough. Her brother was currently busy working on the touch screen on the time machine. "Yes, she also mentioned the memory loss. The year is... '2014'." He read out loud. "Wow, she meant exactly 30 years into the past."

"So, that means I'm her?" The older child asked interestedly while clambering into the big chair of the time machine. It all looked very different from the machine she remembered. Paul had a thing for robots and the classic movie Pacific Rim. Of course the time machine now looked like Sarah was about to beat up gigantic alien lizards.

"Probably. It's a little hard to find out, I have to go deeper into the data... Why is this encrypted? Oh, come on, Claud!" He cursed a little while working busily on the screen. "Can you do a proper Claudia?" He asked, not taking his eyes from the screen.

"Well, someone once told me I start talking like her when I get tired, so that shouldn't be too hard a task." Carefully, Sarah put on the head devices. "You've said you've made the machine better? Does momma know?"

"No. She doesn't know I worked on this at all. I don't think she'd appreciate it if she knew I'm working on her old stuff." Her brother shook his head. Sarah froze, a little confused.

"Are we talking about the same person? I mean, I can still remember the high pitched squealing noise she made when you took apart your first fuse. We both know she doesn't make high pitched squealing noises that easily."

"But this is the time machine." Paul huffed. "You know she has quite a similar opinion on time travel as you have now. You know I'm not allowed to work on the dangerous stuff." He rose from his chair and took a smaller, blinking device from the desk.

"'Dangerous stuff' like becoming a Warehouse agent?" Sarah asked, trying to sound innocent.

"For example..." Her brother replied, completely missing her raised eyebrows and knowing facial expression. "So there's this." He said instead, like it would explain the device's purpose he was currently sticking to Sarah's forehead.

"Oh, right. The famous 'this'. What does 'this' do in particular?" Carefully, Sarah reached out her hand to touch it, but he slapped her hand away.

"Well, first it measures your brain activity. So I'll know when something goes wrong." Paul explained the purpose of the device. Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You mean 'if'. 'If something goes wrong'."

"Yes, of course. 'If'. And second, it allows me to communicate with you through time." Paul pulled duct tape out of the pocket of his trousers and Sarah turned her head away from him, because she really didn't want him sticking the devices and cables with the tape to her head. Disappointedly, he sighed and put the tape away.

"It lets you do what?" The girl stared at him in confusion.

"Well, you're not going on this trip alone, Sarah." He briefly looked into her eyes and smiled. "I've already said I've made this time machine better." With nimble hands, Paul adjusted the devices on his sister's head, not using the duct tape. "Do you remember that old movie 'The Matrix'? It's quite like that. It allows you to hear my voice in your head while being in Claudia's body. I will be able to hear whatever you're hearing and I can talk to you over a microphone. Yeah, I know I'm a genius, you can congratulate me later. My teachers are called H. G. Wells, Artie Nielsen, and Claudia Donovan." Paul briefly shook a pair of invisible pom-poms above his head. "At first I want to thank them and then of course my mom and my sister, who don't understand a thing of what the others have been teaching me, but who always believed in me."

"So if I wanted to talk to you, I would have to speak out loud?" She asked interestedly, ignoring his self-aggrandizing awards ceremony speech.

"Yup. So I can help you solve the artifact puzzle. But still, try to not attract too much attention by talking to me. Try to not attract too much attention in general, Ferret." Paul gently patted her shoulder.

"Why don't you sit in here time travelling and I watch you and do silly comments on it?" The older child asked and reached out her hand to punch his shoulder, but he slipped away.

"Because you struggle with differentiating a remote from a fuse and my head would probably be melted after about five seconds." He winked before again paying attention to the screen. "So, give me your best Claudia imitation, please. God, it's good I'm with you playing her. So I can do the techno babble for you."

"Dude, that's totally not nice!" Sarah glared at him. "If you were my child you'd be able to play the e-guitar. No one has taught you to play the guitar. Have you looked at your face? You would totally rock as a rock star with the awesome e-guitar I built for you."

He scrunched his nose, looking a little bit disappointed.

"Geez, Paul, this family is like the Addams family of weird evil science." His sister gave it another try.

"Better." Paul nodded in approval.

"How much time do I have? I forgot the-" Sarah was interrupted by him.

"Well 22 hours and 19 minutes until the first... drop."

"Drop?" Sarah groaned, a little annoyed. "Oh come on, Paul. You're becoming Claudia with the references now. And also: What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the 22 hours and 19 minutes are still a thing, but I found a way to strech them a little. If you need more time, I'll be reloading and sending you back again. You won't even feel it that... much. Maybe a little dizzyness and a head ache or something, and then it's fine." He again pulled something out of his trouser's pocket. It was a smaller device, which he linked to the screen with a smaller cable. "This allows me to do that. I hope you've eaten well today and you've just been to the toilet."

"Wait, wait, wait." Anxiously, Sarah eyed the device. "Are you telling me you just linked that device that gives you the ability to do this 'drop' to the time machine?"

"As I told you this morning, I had a thing in-"

"You haven't tried that out yet?!" She sat up. "Am I your guinea pig, Paul?"

He reached his hand over his keyboard and firmly pressed her down to the chair again. "It will work, I'm the one who built it."

"Paul, your teachers are all people whose inventions worked fine but then crashed at some point!" The older child weakly boxed his arm to loosen his grip. "Have you checked on the energy supply? Oh god, I have to call Adelaide and Julia so they'll save me from your stupid experiments. Remember when you blew up the B&B?!"

"This time, I've checked everything, Ferret. It'll work." With his other hand, Paul quickly typed something onto his keyboard.

"Objection!" Sarah shouted. "Call Adelaide and Julia!"

"Good night, Sarah." He grinned brightly at her.

"Paul!"

But Sarah's brother firmly hit a button on his keyboard and the older Bering-Wells child could feel how her eyes closed by themselves. She couldn't stop them. And then, for a short moment, everything was black.

So, everything is set up as it should be. Let's start with the actual plot. *rubs hands in anticipation*