A/N: I hope you all have had a wonderful time during the holidays and that your New Year is just as great! I'm in the process of planning how I'm going to do my Universe Expansions, as promised, so stay tuned for those.

Review Replies:

Momcat: Don't worry! Tim wasn't completely alone for three weeks. He's still running the store and has Alice to bother. And I'm more than happy to explain things to you all if you have questions, as long as the answer isn't a spoiler. ;) So go ahead and keep asking questions!

Only had the one review to reply to, so we're getting to the chapter quicker! Enjoy! Time to start swinging the plot back to DC!

Event Fourteen

Tim typed away on his keyboard as he looked for any public records related to the names Regan had texted him. The group had found some paperwork in what used to be the school's administrator's office, and they wanted to know if the names were of anyone who could still be in living memory. A descendant was preferred, but anyone would do. The records Tim was finding weren't quite up to par for what he was used to having access to, though, so he was getting more and more annoyed with each dead end he found. To his fortune, the phone began ringing.

"Green and Co," Tim greeted when he picked up the phone. He'd take any break he could get at the moment.

"It's Jade!" Jade replied. There was loud music playing behind her, barely muffled by the door of whatever room Jade was in. "Sorry about the background noise. We just hit the road, so Edmund took it upon himself to commandeer the radio system."

"It's fine. I can still hear you. What's up, Jade?" Tim asked. He spun his chair so he was facing away from the computer.

"I wanted to check in and see how you're doing. I know you haven't found anything yet regarding the names Regan sent you because you haven't called her back, but how's the store?" Jade continued.

"It's doing as well as I was told to expect. I think I've cleaned the place from top to bottom about four times now," Tim laughed.

"I'm sure you had a lot of fun doing that," Jade said. Tim could mentally see the grin on her face.

"Yeah. Totally," Tim said sarcastically. "Other than that, I've literally been sitting around and reading. Since you're out-of-town, the only traffic I've been getting has either been novices wanting advice on beginner's equipment or phone calls from clients wanting to schedule dedicated time to go over buying updated equipment. And Alice hasn't had jack shit for me to do, either."

"I figured it'd be dead while we've been away. Most of our customers avoid doing purchases when the team isn't there to answer questions. Everything else going okay?"

The tone of Jade's voice caught Tim's attention. He'd only got it from her a couple times before. He knew exactly what was going on here.

"Jade, did Kate say something about me?" Tim asked. A sigh told Tim he was right on the money.

"She's worried about you, but she won't tell me why. It's infuriating," Jade whined.

"Jade, Kate is probably antsy because you all are gonna be staying in DC for a couple days to play tourist before coming back. I'm fine," Tim insisted. "Enjoy your few days off from getting to leave the job site early."

Jade remained silent for several moments. Tim could tell she wanted to say something about them going to DC but didn't want to get Tim upset about it.

"Let me know when you're getting closer to the metro area. I'll message you a long list of restaurants to pick from that are fantastic," Tim continued to break the silence.

"Don't trust Kate's opinion on restaurants?" Jade asked, letting out a small laugh.

"I lived in DC longer than she did. I know of more places than she will," Tim said. He thought back to the restaurants the MCRT frequented when Kate was still alive. How many of them were still open?

"And yet you won't trust my opinion on restaurants in Milwaukee without one of the others also endorsing it," Jade teased.

"Make a suggestion without a shit-eating grin on your face and maybe I'll trust you," Tim shot back with a laugh of his own.

"Fine. I'll do that as soon as we're back. I'll suggest a restaurant with a straight face and we'll go," Jade said.

"It's a date," Tim confirmed.

On Jade's end, a loud noise in the background followed by some yelling had Jade swearing under her breath.

"Tim, I have to go before Portia kills Clark. Last thing I need is for my own travel bus to be haunted," Jade said.

"Go save the baby before his wife does him in," Tim chuckled.

Jade paused for a few seconds, a few halted syllables showing that she wasn't quite ready to hang up. Tim waited, a look of expectation appearing on his face despite no one being around to see it, as he refused to break the silence. Another sigh from Jade made it clear she knew she'd have to speak up this time.

"I mean it, Tim. Next time we're face-to-face. It's a date," Jade finally said.

The conversation Tim had with Jade three weeks previous at the grocery store came to mind, but three weeks was a long time to mull over the topic. Tim wasn't about to pull some unsuspecting woman into his life because of the chance he'd be pulled back to DC without warning. However, Jade wasn't unsuspecting. Jade knew. She knew who Tim was, she knew he could return to DC any day now, and she knew that Tim leaving didn't necessarily mean he'd never return to Wisconsin. And he'd be lying if he tried to say that he hadn't been low-key flirting with Jade for months already.

"It's a date," Tim repeated.

They both hung up, and Tim turned his chair back toward his desk slowly so he could return the cordless phone back to its cradle. He stared at it for a few moments as he thought over what just happened and let out a groan.

"Alice is going to give me so much shit," Tim muttered. He looked at his computer again, wishing the search results would magically appear for him. He only had so many resources that granted public access. None of them gave him any of the information he was looking for. Giving in, Tim reached for his cell phone to text Regan to let her know he hadn't found anything yet and was going to take a break from searching for the rest of the evening. It was nearly time to close the store, anyway, and Tim wasn't planning on staying past lock up.

Tim had just locked the front door when he could hear his cell phone ringing. He thumped his forehead against the door a few times before heading over to the front counter to answer the call before it went to his voicemail.

"Alice! Please tell me you're calling to release me from my boredom," Tim said once his phone was pressed against his ear.

"Tim, has there been anyone sitting outside the shop most of the day?" Alice asked, ignoring Tim's complaint about boredom. Her tone had Tim turning around to look out the main windows in the building. From what he could tell, none of the cars outside had anyone sitting in them.

"Uh, not that I've noticed," Tim said.

"It's 5. Are you locked up?" Alice continued. Tim frowned.

"Of course. I always close on time. I was going to leave in, like, two minutes. Alice, what's wrong?" Tim questioned.

"Tim, the Lambert's found out that you're still alive."

Everything around Tim seemed to fade away as he froze in shock. He was alone in the shop while Alice, the only friendly person anywhere nearby who knew where he was, was across the county in her office. Not the ideal situation he wanted to be in upon receiving this kind of news.

"If there's no one there, then they may not know your exact location yet. Hightail your ass to my office now," Alice stressed.

"How the hell did they find out?" Tim asked. He walked around the counter to shut down the front computer for the night and switch off all the lights in the store. He double checked that the register drawer was locked before heading through the back to get to the employee entrance.

"No idea. According to Rocco, Fisher is a hair's width away from having a brain aneurysm. They think there might be a leak somewhere. We need to get you out of Milwaukee as soon as possible," Alice explained.

"So, what? I just disappear again? I get shoved into the depths of some other metro area in another state?" Tim ranted. He kicked the employee door closed behind him and darted for his car.

"Tim, I..." Alice started. "I don't know what else to tell you. If we don't move you, they'll kill you."

"You know what? So fucking be it," Tim hissed. He was done with this entire situation. He was done with running. He wasn't going to completely upend his life a second time just as he was getting used to life in Wisconsin. This was stopping now, on his own damn terms. "Alice, I'm going home to pack a bag, then I'm heading to the airport. I highly suggest you be there to buy a ticket with me if you want to hold any resemblance of control over what's going on."

"Tim, just where the hell are you going?!" Alice yelled.

"Back to DC," Tim shot back before hanging up and tossing his cell phone into his passenger seat.

This had to be what Kate was worried about. It had to be. There was no other explanation. Letting out a frustrated noise, Tim maneuvered his car out of the employee parking lot. If he was lucky, he'd arrive in DC at the same time as Jade and the others and could send them back home immediately. No way in hell they weren't a target, as well, if the Lambert's knew he was in Milwaukee.