Oh guys, It's really late! I'm so, so sorry. It took me ages. I like to take my time for emotional conversations, but this was seriously one complete bastard of a chapter to write.

Hope you like it.

Only Shadows Ahead

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Irate voices sounded from the next room. They were hard to ignore.

Beer bottle in hand, Bleak sat quietly; feet propped up on the table and unable to drown out the ruckus. He gritted his teeth, focusing on the condensation forming on the glass.

"Stupid fucking program should be handling this! I —"

"Have you checked the —"

"— can't believe it's just stopped working!"

A hesitant pause. "Have you programmed it correct —"

"How the fuck should I know!" Plunder roared, no doubt reducing his latest personal assistant to a quaking bag of bones. "The orders were filled, I don't understand why —"

"Have you tried bypassing the coding through MAL?"

"That steaming pile of megabytes won't talk to me," Plunder snapped. "I've got three buyers lined up and ready, and the damn program decides to glitch."

"Blight said it was unstable," the assistant replied. "That's why she was working on another version. Maybe —"

"Maybe what?" Plunder seethed. "Blight's dead. How the hell can she help me now?"

Bleak could hear their approaching footsteps. His peaceful existence was quashed the moment Plunder strode in.

He looked pissed.

A nervous looking man hurried to catch up. Bleak had only met the new assistant a handful of times, but the guy reminded him of a weasel. Thin, pinched face and protruding front teeth. Hunched shoulders. Perpetually terrified.

Plunder paced the makeshift lunchroom. "Twelve million worth of stock and I can't fucking move it."

The bespeckled assistant nodded nervously, clutching his clipboard to his chest. "Maybe if you just —"

"Cram it, square eyes," Plunder muttered under his breath. His eyes settled on Bleak and his rage seemed to increase exponentially. "Payin' you to sit pretty, Bleak?"

"Don't ever recall bein' on retainer," Bleak replied, popping a fry into his mouth. "Or a salary, for that matter."

"Fuck off."

Bleak rolled his eyes, moving his finger around the rim of his beer bottle as Plunder threw himself into the chair opposite. Plunder glared at him and Bleak stared back, refusing to drop his gaze — almost a silent challenge. In the end, Plunder was the first to back down.

"Goddamn ridiculous." Hunched over his computer, Plunder's dark eyes were visible over the laptop cover.

Bleak grunted in response.

"I can access the files, move the product, but I get this stupid error code when I try to complete the fucking last step. Just sits in limbo."

Bleak grunted again, taking another sip of his beer as Plunder's fingers tapped away.

The assistant crept closer. "Why don't you —"

"God-damn fucking technology!"

The error beep sounded again and Plunder pushed the computer away in disgust. He crossed his arms, glaring at Bleak.

"Typical. Just sit there and —"

"What?" he challenged. "How the hell am I suppose to know what to —"

"What do you think?"

Bleak took another swig of his beer. "Do I look like a fucking computer technician to you?"

"My mistake," Plunder replied smoothly. "Keep forgetting you barely finished elementary school."

Bleak tensed, swallowing the urge to slam his fist into Plunder's ugly, smirking face. "Don't need a college education to shoot a gun, boss."

"Your services are becoming a tad outdated, Argos," Plunder remarked. "Seems money talks more than muscle these days."

"Always need muscle." Bleak shrugged nonchalantly. "Not everyone needs or wants —"

"Money is everything," Plunder smirked, tapping away at the keyboard again. "Not much that can't be bought these days."

"How 'bout loyalty," Bleak muttered under his breath.

"What?" Plunder frowned, glancing over the top of the laptop.

"Nothin."

"Stupid program."

The nervous little weasel crept forward. "Perhaps if you —"

The error code beeped again. Plunder jumped to his feet, sending the chair skittering across the floor. The assistant shrank back in fright.

"Goddamn it!"

Bleak finished his beer; placing it with three empty bottles.

"I'll get Blight's little friend onto it."

Bleak's ears pricked. "Who?"

"Some schmuck who was on her payroll. Worked for the government," Plunder replied, straightening his jacket. "Might be able to tell me why my fucking state-of-the-art security systems keep going offline at the worst possible fucking time, too."

"Shit happens."

"Think I've got a rat."

Plunder straightened the lapels of his jacket, intent on composing himself. "Might be time for a little spring cleaning. Flush the bastard out."

The hackles rose on the back of Bleak's neck. Those well-honed instincts were rising to the surface.

Shit.

He was well aware of the risks involved. It was only a matter of time. Some careful digging would potentially turn up an electronic path that would lead straight to Bleak.

Turning off the security feed just before handing over Blondie. Copying files, anonymous phone calls to the FBI. Sabotaging Plunder's computer. Blondie had warned him before passing on the inconspicuous USB drive.

Bleak eyed Plunder stride from the room; his assistant bumbling along behind him.

"Need you in Puerto Rico." Plunder's voice echoed down the hall and Bleak straightened, listening carefully. "Problems with the locals. I'll buy your ticket and…"

Plunder's voice trailed away, but Bleak was no longer listening. He stood swiftly, heading for his makeshift office.

"I am not understanding why you did not disappear in their time —"

"Blight's portal did not allow for a straight time jump. There was a split — a fork — that branched off. The split created two seperate timelines."

"So if you had not gone through, we would have followed the original —"

"Da."

Kwame's questioning face stared back at her from across the room. Ma-Ti and Gi were seated either side of him on the couch, and they were looking equally baffled.

"Wow," Ma-Ti said, settling back against the couch. "All right."

"Tryin' to understand this," Gi said softly. "You saw our future? I mean, before you went through —"

"Da."

"We would have split after two years?" Gi asked. Her face was pale; her eyes not leaving Linka's. "We would have walked away?"

Linka nodded, stifling a yawn; still overtired from a lack of sleep. Wheeler was curled up beside her; his toes nudging her thigh. His mussed up hair peeked out from under the blanket and she smiled down fondly at him.

Kwame flicked the photo with his finger, dodging Gi's persistent attempts to snatch it out of his hands, staring avidly at the group of people gathered within. He was fascinated, refusing to relinquish his hold no matter how hard Gi tried.

"Was it witness protection, Linka? Where you went? The other version of you, I mean —"

"It was meant to be. I guess so. It did not work out, though."

He frowned, running his hand over his mouth. He looked tired and drawn. Overwhelmed. "You were taken away and —"

"Da."

"You were alone for all those years Linka? I cannot even fathom —"

She winced, glancing at Wheeler. "I was not alone, I —"

"But Blight found you anyway?"

She nodded, and Kwame let out a harsh breath.

"How did it happen?"

"I was given an injection. The poison only took a few minutes."

Ma-Ti gasped. "Oh my God —"

"Does it mess with your head?" Gi whispered. She looked appalled at the events that had come to light. "I can't even… I mean, knowing what you know now. Will it change —"

"It is hard to even comprehend," Ma-Ti whispered.

"Eleven years had passed…" Kwame's voice piped up again, still concentrating on the image clutched tightly within his hand. "Things became so desperate. So dark."

"Da."

Kwame studied the picture carefully. "What happened to my face?"

"Greedly attacked you." She made a stabbing motion. "Knife."

"I would never have thought that they were capable of that," Ma-Ti breathed, staring at Kwame in horror.

"It got a lot worse. Yankee was shot twice in the chest by Plunder just before —"

"I was shot?" Wheeler mumbled tiredly. "You missed that little nugget of information."

"Sorry Yankee," she said, squeezing his foot and he nudged her thigh gently. "There is a lot to recall."

"What were we like?" Gi was finally successful in snatching the image from Kwame's tight grip. She stared hard at it as Kwame peered over her shoulder. "Us, I mean. Our future selves?"

"You were…" She paused, considering her words. "You were all very different. You had changed."

"Were we married?"

"Some of you were."

Gi's brown eyes widened, no doubt intrigued at the prospect of a glimpse into her alternate future. "Did I end up meeting Prince Charming?"

"Kissed a few frogs, no doubt." Wheeler's muffled voice sounded again from beneath the blankets. He didn't see the cushion Gi launched in his direction. It clipped the side of his covered face, rebounding off Linka and falling to the floor. "Ow."

"Did I meet someone?" she repeated.

Linka hesitated for a moment, observing Gi's curious expression. "You were seeing someone. You seemed very happy."

"Oh c'mon," she moaned. "You can't just —"

"It does not matter anyway, Gi. The future I saw will no longer evacuate."

"Eventuate," Wheeler mumbled.

"Oh." She scratched her head. "I thought I had that one."

"What about me?" Kwame's interest was well and truly piqued. "Was I married?"

"Da," Linka nodded. "Ma-Ti too."

"What about the ladies man?" Gi asked, nodding towards Wheeler. "Did he knock up half of Brooklyn before the world went to hell?"

"Just one," came Wheeler's muffled response and Linka grinned, smoothing the blankets over Wheeler's legs.

"Playmate of the Year? Underwear model?" Gi teased as Wheeler rolled onto his back; bleary eyed as he gave her the middle finger. He sat up and manoeuvred himself around, settling his head onto Linka's lap with a tired sigh. Her fingers stroked through his hair tenderly.

"Yankee was married, too."

"Wow," Gi said, clearly impressed. "Never pegged you as the type to settle down."

"You have so little faith in me, Gi."

She shrugged; her lips quirking into a smile. "Gotta lower my expectations when it comes to —"

"I'll have you know I —"

"Your throat," Kwame interrupted, motioning towards Linka; unwilling to wait for the bickering to cease. "Do you remember who —"

"Kroi — the older Kroi — tried to strangle me as we were returning," she explained, touching her throat self-consciously. "Bleak said he threw me through a glass cabinet." She flexed her hand, looking at the jagged scar across her palm. "I had to use a knife on him apparently to get away."

"You do not remember?" Ma-Ti asked gently.

She shook her head. "That memory remains a little unclear."

"Probably for the best," Kwame said drily. He sighed, settling back against his chair and seeming to mull things over. Fingers pinched in a steeple, he regarded her curiously. "You interacted with our future selves?"

Another moment of hesitation. She nodded.

Kwame raised his eyebrows. "We were different?"

"You were all very different."

"How?"

Linka shifted, uncomfortable at the thought of sharing the altered aspects of their personalities.

"Ma-Ti was a little quieter, perhaps."

"What about me?"

She smiled at Gi, considering her words carefully. "You were sad. You struggled to adjust after I was taken away, but you had a good friend beside you."

"Oh," she said softly, raising her eyes to the ceiling with a heavy sigh. "I think this is the most depressing conversation on record."

"It is a conversation that we need to have," Linka said, trying to explain. "There is so much that has happened. So much that I have seen, and SAIP was the beginning of it all."

"But Blight is dead," Kwame said. "The updated versions of SAIP have hopefully died with her."

"That's right," Gi said. "You've already changed things. SAIP is in the early stages. Obviously you'll have to keep telling the CIA to get f—"

"SAIP is still in play, but I am hoping we have done enough to saba — sabo —" Linka clicked her fingers in frustration. "Oh bozhe moi, the word is not —"

"Sabotage," Wheeler mumbled against the soft cotton of her t-shirt. She brushed his forehead, gracing him with an appreciative smile.

"Da. We were able to plant a corrupt file in Plunder's hardware, since he is the primary user —"

"How did you manage that?" Gi asked. "Wouldn't you need to physically have access to his —"

"Bleak," Kwame said, and Linka knew he'd put two and two together. He leaned forward, staring Linka down. "Bleak is your contact."

"Da," she said softly. "Bleak has spent the last month passing on information."

"I don't understand," Ma-Ti said. "Why would Bleak keep help —"

"He saw everything I did. Bleak's future was just as depressing as mine was. Neither of us had long to live if we had followed the original tineline."

"What do you —"

"We found out that Plunder had eventually contracted Kroi to kill Bleak."

"Oh wow," Gi breathed. "I take it Bleak outlived his usefulness?"

"Something like that. Bleak was the one who warned the authorities about the contract on my head. We believe he was killed as a result."

"Oh my God," Ma-Ti murmured, glancing at the others. "So he's our insider, now?"

"He was."

Gi frowned. "No longer?"

"It was getting too dangerous. He left Plunder's compound last night."

"Where did he —"

"He is no longer contactable. Gone underground." She shrugged. "Do you really think Bleak would tell me, anyway?"

"Probably not." Gi stood up, slipping into the apartment kitchen. Her posture was tense as she trudged heavily around the counter. "God, I need a coffee."

Wheeler raised his hand. "Make that two, dolphin-girl."

"Yep," she said, flicking the kettle on.

"You said we had all changed." Kwame's deep voice commanded her attention. "You said we were different?"

"Da," she said huskily.

"How had I changed?"

"It is difficult to…" Linka paused, struggling to find the words. Eying him with slight trepidation as coffee mugs tinkered on the kitchen counter in front of them. "Kwame, you were harder. You rarely laughed or smiled."

"Really?"

"You were in charge of one of the underground settlements. Bossed everyone around." She smiled suddenly, meeting his eyes. "We had a rather large argument about it at one stage."

"An argument?" He grinned back at her, crossing his legs and leaning back. "Why does this not surprise me?"

"Boss-man," Gi said. "Did Kwame still have a snoring —"

"I do not snore that badly, Gi —"

"The earth moves with every breath you —"

"Wheeler and I had married," Linka said softly, her voice only just audible over the others.

A gasp issued from the kitchenette. The coffee mugs clunked heavily, making them all jump in fright. Gi had visibly flinched; the kettle raised halfway in the air and her mouth hanging open.

The room descended into an abrupt silence.

Linka bit her lip. Her heart was thumping hard but she swallowed the anxiety, waiting and praying for someone to say something. To say anything; to fill the gaping void within the room. Expressions of joy, happiness, surprise. Even disappointment or sadness would do.

Just a reaction. She felt her cheeks burning, aware that three pairs of eyes were focused solely upon her and Wheeler. She wasn't used to sharing. Innermost thoughts and feelings had always been closely guarded. This admission changed everything, providing them with a mere glimpse.

Having to own up to the fact that her feelings for Wheeler ran deeper.

"I was not sure… I did not know if… ugh." Linka stammered. She swore under her breath, flustered. "I was not going to say anything, but…"

Wheeler shifted. His striking blue eyes calmed her somewhat and she trailed her touch down the ridge of his nose. He remained quiet, however.

"What can I say," she ventured, settling back. "Keeping things to myself has not served me well in my past — or my future, for that matter. I think I have made many mistakes over the years. Many poor choices. Decisions that make no sense to me, now that I know how my life would have progressed."

She watched Kwame rub his hand over his mouth. He remained quiet; as did the others, adding to her increased level of discomfort.

"I saw everything through her eyes. Through her memories. I felt everything." She shrugged, weaving her fingers through Wheeler's hair. "We fell in love."

A hint of a smile from Ma-Ti, but still nothing was spoken out loud.

"Wheeler and I left together," she whispered. "Two years from now. We would move around a lot for the first twelve months, avoiding Blight who was still searching for me. By the time we settled down in one place we were married and expecting a baby."

Kwame leaned forward, propping his chin in his hands and listening intently.

"Two children," she added, throwing caution to the wind. "By the time I met his future self, he had been widowed for a few years, raising our children on his own in a world that had become so dark and dangerous."

"Oh my God," Gi murmured.

"He was the most changed," Linka said, struggling to compose herself. "The joy was gone. I missed it greatly while I was there."

A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away hastily.

"Say something," she whispered, flicking her gaze to Gi again. Leaning against the kitchen counter, Gi looked troubled. The kettle was still clutched tightly with her hand — the coffees all but forgotten.

"Did you know this, Wheeler?" Ma-Ti appeared both delighted and completely appalled in equal parts.

"Yeah." He nodded, pushing himself into a sitting position and settling back beside her. His hair was wild, sticking up in all directions. "Lin told me last night."

"Wow," Ma-Ti breathed. "How do you even —"

"You left behind a family." Gi's face was pale. She sniffed, brushing away tears with her fingertips. "Makes it all the more worse. Not that I'm…" She shrugged, giving them a small smile. "It's tragic, really."

"What will you do?" Kwame asked gently. "I mean, knowing what we know now?"

"How do you…" Gi frowned, seeming to struggle to come up with the right words. She appeared emotional; red, glistening eyes still focused solely on Linka. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I mean, do you feel compelled to follow some aspects of the path you saw?"

"Do you feel you need to?" Ma-Ti asked. He smirked, nodding towards Wheeler. "And I'm talking about the red-haired zombie sitting beside you."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious."

"So you two really —" Ma-Ti began, unable to hide his delight. "After all the fights and arguments and —"

"What can I say," he replied, grinning back. "Could only resist me for so long."

"It's romantic," Gi sighed. "Well, until... you know."

"Wore you down eventually, babe," Wheeler said, leaning in and kissing Linka's cheek. He turned his gaze to Kwame. "We headin' off today?"

"Yes."

"You're drivin'," he grumbled. "My future wife kept me up all night."

Gi's mouth dropped open again, and he was quick to clarify. "Talkin', you degenerate."

"Sure."

"Hmph." He squeezed Linka's thigh before rising to his feet, swaying slightly as he trudged away wearily. "I'm takin' a shower before we go."

They watched him leave. The mood in the room was pensive, as if reflecting on what could have been.

"Do you feel pressure to follow certain aspects of the future you saw?" Ma-Ti said finally. "Maybe pressure is the wrong word, but it is certainly food for thought."

Linka shook her head, smiling gently at Ma-Ti. "Nyet, I do not feel pressure. The future I saw will not happen. It is no longer our future. We are making our own path, even sitting here."

"We have watched the two of you go back and forth for many years now," Kwame said. "So the news is not exactly surprising to us."

"The future is no longer set," Linka said simply. "We get to rewrite it however we like. Wheeler may decide that a Playmate of the Year comes with a lot less emotional baggage."

"Doubt it," Gi muttered.

"You know what I mean." She sighed, pushing her hair away from her face. "I came away from this experience with knowledge. Knowing that I left things in life too late and it was my one regret before dying. I know that. I saw that and I felt that."

"Turning over a new leaf?" Kwame said, raising his eyebrows.

"Perhaps," she murmured.

Kwame nodded, looking at her with something like pride. He stood, shaking his head slightly and following the path Wheeler had taken a few moments before. "All right. I think that is enough angst for one day."

"Are we leaving?" Ma-Ti stood and stretched, smiling down at Linka encouragingly.

"Half hour," Kwame's voice floated back and Ma-Ti nodded, placing his palm over Linka's head in a gesture of affection as he left.

Linka sat quietly, watching Gi round the counter and plonk herself down on the couch beside her.

"I'll say it again," she said quietly. "Messes with your head."

Linka nodded.

"Tryin' to understand this. So the future Wheeler you knew had all these memories and experiences? Of you guys as a couple. As a family?" She frowned, raising her eyes. "Then he lost you?"

"Da."

"Then you turn up from a different point in time — a time where you'd spent most of your days pretty much... for lack of a better word, ignoring him."

Linka flinched, but no matter how poorly phrased Gi's observation was, it was the truth. "Da."

"Geez," she breathed. "Can't even imagine. Poor bastard."

"He was very different," she said. "By the time I arrived, our firecracker had lost his spark."

Gi shook her head in wonder. "Poor guy."

"It came back towards the end of my time there, though."

"He adores you, you know?"

"I know," she said faintly.

"Always has." Gi pursed her lips, nodding. She sat back, clutching Linka's hand and squeezing it gently. "What are you —"

"I slept with him," she said softly. The words tumbled out in a rush — and the relief was palpable. "We slept together."

"Huh?" Gi's eyes went wide as she leaned in closer. "You what?"

"I —" Linka swallowed, peering around the room; double checking that they were indeed alone. The knowledge and resulting memories had been eating away at her for some time now. "I slept with him."

"With Wheeler? Wait, he... I thought you guys just talked last —"

Linka dropped her head into her hands, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Not that Wheeler."

"Oh my God," Gi breathed, sinking back into the couch and contemplating the new information. "Are you serious?"

"Just before I returned," she murmured; her voice muffled within her palms. "We spent the night together in a truck at Blight's compound."

"Oh my God," Gi repeated, shaking her head in wonder. "How did... what... wait a minute, in the back of a truck?"

"In the cabin." Linka looked up, noting Gi's slightly perturbed face. "Behind the driver and passenger seats. There was a bed in the back."

"Oh." Gi looked speechless. "Okay. Uh, wow."

"I just had to..." she whispered, staring down at her hands and flexing her fingers. "I had to tell someone."

"So you haven't told him yet?" she asked, nodding in the direction Wheeler had walked five minutes earlier.

She shook her head.

A pause. Gi's chin dropped down gently onto her shoulder. "Are you going to?"

She nodded. "I think the Yankee and I will need to sit down and have a serious conversation."

"That's an understatement," Gi said, but she smiled all the same. She took a deep breath, wrapping her arms around Linka and hugging her hard. Swaying back and forth, pressing her face into Linka's neck. "Any regrets?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "None."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Caught me off guard there for a minute," Gi laughed, wiping away tears. "Kidnaping, murder, time travelling. End of the world stuff and here I am blubbering over you finally getting laid."

Linka felt her face heating up. "I just had to get it off my chest," she whispered, peering at Gi. "It just happened. We both needed it, I suppose."

Gi nodded, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "That's understandable."

"I always liked who he was." Linka shrugged, leaning against her friend. "But I love who he became. Does that make sense?"

"Yep."

"Don't say anything, not until I have spoken to —"

"I won't." Gi made a cross sign across her chest, giving Linka a final squeeze. "I promise, but I can't help being kinda thrilled for you right now!"

"I know," Linka replied, breaking into a wide grin as Gi shoved her playfully.

"Okay," she said, moving away and composing herself. "Wow. Okay. I'm off to pack my stuff. You gonna be all right?"

"Da," she replied, giving Gi a small wave as she stood, wandering towards their shared bedroom. "I will be all right."

Smiling, she raised her hand, inspecting the faint scar across her palm and tracing her finger down the mottled edges before letting it fall into her lap. She straightened.

Today was a new day.

I am all right.