Right away, Bayek can feel the difference. Traveling through time with Layla isn't the same as traveling alone—or with just Senu, technically. Now it's like there's something between him and Layla, tying them together like a boat moored at a dock. Good. At least he won't have to worry about losing her in a different century.

"This is it?" Layla asks, and her voice sounds very small—there's nothing around for her words to bounce off of, and the empty space around them seems to eat her question.

"Just be patient," Bayek tells her, already reaching out to connect with Senu. The blazing golden timeline stretches out below him again, just as it had the first time he did this. This time, Bayek directs Senu straight into the glowing mark on time that shows where the sun had nearly destroyed everything. It's a move that's as much instinct as anything else, entrusting that they will find the exact right moment, that they will find Desmond, that they won't be too early or too late, that they won't appear in the wrong place or separated from each other.

Senu shrieks, the sound carrying in a way that it hadn't when Bayek and Layla had tried to talk. It seems to echo and reverberate, and as always Bayek draws strength from his eagle. He hears a second shriek, this one human and surprised, and when he blinks away Senu's view, he sees that they're somewhere else. A cave, somewhere cold—Bayek can feel goosebumps rising on his arms—with traces of the same inhuman architecture he's seen in some of the old tombs back home. It looks older here, half falling down, and Bayek reminds himself that all these ruins are two thousand years older than what he's used to.

"Are you alright?" he asks, turning to Layla. She looks fine, but there's no one else around so she must have been the one that shrieked.

Sure enough, her face is bright red, and her posture is almost daring him to say anything. "I'm fine," she says. "Just surprised."

Bayek gives her a quick look anyway, just to make sure that she really is as fine as she claims to be. He barely knows anything about Layla, and he has no idea how she's going to react to a shock like this one—it's not unreasonable to want to be sure she'll hold her nerve.

"Look," Layla says, shaking off her surprise and pointing. "Bayek…"

He follows her finger and feels something cold grip at him as he sees the crumpled body on the floor nearby, and the flickering golden silhouette standing over him. In some ways, Bayek is still scrambling to catch up with everything that's going on here, but in other ways… well, it's not hard to guess who these two are.

Desmond.

And Juno.

Bayek and Layla share a wordless look, then take off running toward the two. Bayek drops to his knees next to Desmond, while Layla has eyes only for Juno. He's taller, and a little more used to running than Layla is, so he gets there several seconds earlier. Maybe he should be more concerned with Juno, but it's hard to ignore the sight of someone dying in front of him. Desmond is a still lump on the floor, his left hand charred horribly—Bayek can still smell the stench of burning skin, and his stomach churns. He's still crouched over Desmond when Layla catches up, standing between Bayek and Juno.

Bayek tenses, watching her—he doesn't know what Layla is capable of, and he's not even sure if she can fight. If Juno really is as much of a threat as William had implied, this could get unpleasant.

Juno's face is a shifting collection of golden lines, and her expression is hard to read, but Bayek thinks he sees surprise there. More than surprise, really, but he might be imagining her shock. "You are not supposed to be here," she says, voice flat. It does not echo the way it should in this wide open space, but somehow the sound of her voice fills the area anyway. The hairs on the back of Bayek's neck stand on end, and he shifts, very carefully. This half-transparent woman, looming over them, has a presence that Bayek doesn't like. She seems dangerous.

"You're not supposed to be here," Layla says, with too much aggression in her voice. Bayek can see Juno's expression twisting into one of disdain, and he wants to warn Layla to stay quiet. They're not here for a confrontation. "We've heard about you, and you should have been dead a long time ago.

"Let me look at you," Juno says. She seems almost amused. "Both of you." She doesn't so much walk toward the two of them as float, like she's only half real. "A man far from home," she says, gaze resting on Bayek for a moment before flicking to Layla. "And a little girl with a temper. What exactly do either of you think you're going to do?"

The question hangs heavy in the air, and for a second Bayek isn't sure what to say. Layla's forced silence reminds him of what he'd seen the apple do back by Siwa, and something in him hardens. This is wrong, all wrong, and he might not know a way to stop Juno yet, but he really wants to figure it out. "We're going to hurt you," he says, speaking up, emphasizing each word. Unlike when Layla had translated for William, Bayek can understand everything Juno says—it feels like she's pounding the words right into his skull, in a way that bypasses language completely. But Bayek isn't sure if it works both ways, and he doesn't know for sure if Juno will be able to hear and understand him.

He shouldn't have worried. As soon as Bayek speaks, Juno turns all her attention to him—and the force of it, the strength of her anger and derision….

Well, Bayek is pretty sure she must know what he's saying.

"You will not hurt me," she says. "You? A pair of useless humans?" Her tone is so dismissive that it doesn't even come across as an insult. She's not trying to hurt them, she just genuinely doesn't seem to see them as worth anything.

"Yes," Layla says. She looks pissed, and when Juno glances over at her, she actually laughs.

"No," she says, and fades away, like dust being blown away on the wind.

"Okay," Layla says, and her face has actually turned red from anger. "I do not like her."

Bayek nods. From what Layla had passed on to him from William Miles, and just the… sheer malice in her face, her voice, her posture, her everything, it's enough to convince him that this Juno is going to be a problem. She reminds him in a way of the Order that he's chased all across Egypt. Juno has the same kind of malice and casual disdain that the Order's members had shown.

"She must still be around here somewhere," Layla says, looking around. "I'm going to go investigate. I don't like not knowing where she is."

"Just be careful," Bayek says. "We don't know what she can do."

"She's just a bunch of light," Layla says. She doesn't sound convinced. "She can't even touch me."

"That's why I'm worried," Bayek says. "If she can't touch us, it just means she's going to find some other way to hurt us, and if it's anything like what I saw in Siwa with the apple, I'm not sure if it's something you'll be able to protect yourself against."

Layla hesitates, then nods. "I'll be careful."

She starts to scour the immediate area, and Bayek turns back to Desmond. He knows he should be helping Layla look for Juno, but something makes him pause, and take a second look at Desmond. It's a good thing, too, because if he hadn't been looking, he never would have seen Desmond's mouth open slightly, and he never would have heard the thin rattle as Desmond tries to suck in a breath.

A jolt of adrenaline rocks through Bayek—he's always found it easier to motivate himself when he's trying to save someone—and he shouts out to Layla. "He's still alive!"

"What?" she shouts back, from halfway across the room.

"Desmond," Bayek says. "He's breathing." He stands, still sort of crouching over the dying man, and reaches into his pouch for the apple. "We need to get him out of here, to his father or someone that can help him."

"But what about Juno?" Layla asks. "I'm sorry, Bayek, but Desmond died here. It's history now, it happened, and we need to stop Juno before she does anything else—"

"We can travel in time," Bayek says. "We're here to change history, and I want to start with saving him." He has the apple in his hand now, but he stops and looks up at Layla before making another move. "You're right about Juno, though, we can't just leave her." They are supposed to be figuring out a way to stop her after all, and they still need a lot more information if they want to figure out what Juno's after and how to stop her. "You should stay here, Layla. Learn what you can while I try and get Desmond somewhere he can get help. Then I'll come back here and get you."

"You won't even be able to talk to anyone," Layla says.

"And you can't use the apple, as far as we know," Bayek says. "And we don't have time to find out, so…" He glances back at Desmond, waiting far too long before he sees another struggling breath. "Maybe you're right and this isn't going to work, but it's worth trying."

Layla gives him a crooked grin. "You're too nice, Bayek. Come back."

Bayek nods, and lets the apple carry him and Desmond into the time stream.

-/-

*agonized noises* I was hoping to get to Desmond this chapter, but noooope, Juno had to muscle her way in there and take up alllll the space.

Next chapter :p