Title: Future Possibilities
author: Cindy Ryan
notes and summary: see part one

San Diego, CA
June, 2041

Danny Logan blinked in surprise as a room came into focus around him. A very familiar room; one he'd been in hundreds of times. One his sister helped design. A friendly face on the other side of the work station gaped at him and then let out a whoop. As the other man came forward and embraced Danny in a bear hug memories slowly came back. Some sharp; some not. That odd sense of disconnect one gets when you've time traveled too close to another version of yourself.

"What's going on, Mark?"Danny asked the tech as he struggled to orientate himself. "Why am I here? I don't remember being here recently."

"Complicated as usual"Mark replied with a grin and a shake of his head. "Man, it's good to see you."

"Mark?"Danny prompted as more memories converged none making any sense. "I was on campus and then everything just vanished."

"Your timeline had a hiccup but it's merged back to normal."Mark explained enthusiastically. "Well, almost normal"

A cold chill passed across Danny and his blue eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong?"Danny demanded.

"We need to get your sister back."Mark replied with a sigh. "For that you're going to have to go back."

"How far back?"Danny asked worriedly. "Lizzy's the time traveler not me. What happened to her?"

"I"ll explain as we set up Lifeboat 2."Mark said as he went back to the computer.

Lucy fought off a sneeze as she hunkered down next to Wyatt behind a cluster of bare trees a few feet from the road. Anthony was next to her; the horses tied to a tree further behind them. Wyatt wanting to keep them out of the line of gunfire as much as possible. The rain had let up a little but not enough to help matters. Suddenly the silence which had only been broken by the rain was filled with sound. Hoofbeats, loud and close. Very close. Wyatt ran out from cover and Lucy followed grabbing a rifle. As they reached the road Lucy recognized Flynn's familiar profile even in the dim light.

"That's far enough!"Wyatt shouted stepping in front of Flynn and Hines who were still ten feet away.

"You are dedicated, Logan, I'll give you that."Flynn snapped as he raised his own gun. "But you are done intervering in my plans."

"If you're plans weren't evil; we wouldn't have to stop you."Lucy stated wincing slightly at how clinche' the words sounded once they were spoken.

"Evil is one person's perspective."Hines's chimed in rain dripping off the brim of his hat his own weapon was raised.

"Lower your weapon, Flynn."Wyatt ordered. "You're coming with us."

Flynn smirked and aimed his gun at Lucy cocking the hammer. The historian swallowed hard and tried to keep the rifle from shaking. Though she was uncomfortable with guns; Wyatt was right she needed to defend herself. Lighting struck the ground twenty feet to the right of the group catching everyone's attention. Hail started to pelt the group causing Lucy to cover her head with her hands. Flynn's gun didn't move.

"Things are already in motion, Logan."Flynn stated. "You're too late."

"Maybe; maybe not."Wyatt responded. "Lower your weapon or I'll shoot it out of your hand just for aiming it at her."

Thunder boomed causing Lucy to jump. Lighting struck south of the group about a hundred feet away. Lucy caught movement out of the corner of her left eye and hoped Anthony would remain hidden. She didn't want to give away their ace just yet. Rufus needed more time to secure the lifeboat.

San Diego, CA
June 2041

"What do you mean Lizzy's timeline is in flux?!"Danny demanded.

"She went back thinking it would be our only chance to fix things."The tech explained as he entered cordinates in the time machine main consol. "Just trust me that you doing this will help."

"I'm all for killing, Flynn, Mark, but..."Danny protested. "Interacting with my parents before they're my parents..."

"Will be weird; yes, but they already know about you and Elizabeth. Since I got tragetry back from her ship that she got where she was supposed to."Mark continued. "Strap in to the pilot's seat I've got everything set on auto."

Danny sighed and did as he was told. Mark stepped out of the one person time machine giving him a thumbs up. Danny gripped the straps that were against his shoulders and closed his eyes. /Lizzy; you owe me big time./

The hail stopping was the highlight of the past ten minutes; Wyatt thought darkly as he and Flynn continued the standoff. The weather was making Hines's and Flynn's horses skittish but not enough for Wyatt to use it to their advantage. Part A of their plan was working just fine, but they needed to even the odds. Wyatt glanced at Lucy and saw her shake her head slightly. Anthony was another gun but if Flynn knew he'd lost his hostage the former NSA agent would become too much of a wildcard for Wyatt's comfort.

"Flynn, you can..."Lucy began but her sentence was cut off by a gunshot.

Wyatt turned towards the gunshot thinking it came from west of Anthony's position so the tech couldn't have fired. However, the weather was making it difficult to pinpoint. Another shot came before they had a chance to return fire. Flynn cried out and toppled from his horse. Hines's turned his mount and bolted. Lucy moved quickly to Flynn's side with Wyatt only a few steps behind. He positioned himself so he was crouching in front of Lucy and Flynn; gun drawn.

"Wyatt; he's losing a lot of blood."Lucy stated anxiously.

"We need to get..."Wyatt started but footsteps made Wyatt stop and whirl to the left aiming his gun.

"Easy,"A young male voice said from the darkness. "I'm on your side."

"Forgive me if I'm skeptical of that."Wyatt replied crisply. "Who are you?"

The storm had been weakening and the rain was letting up with each passing minute. However the last few minutes the cloud cover had started to clear allowing the moon to peak through at certain times. The moon picked that moment to make an appearnce illuminating the newcomer. Wyatt heard Lucy gasp in shock and Wyatt did a double take at the young man in front of them. It was a face he'd seen a hundred times in Elizabeth's pictures. One that couldn't possibly be standing here; but was. Lucy regained her voice first though it was shakey.

"Danny?"Lucy asked incredulously.