A/N: This chapter didn't take long to write, but I'll be damned if I wasn't sure how the final couple scenes were going to play out lol. Mysteries pile up while also being revealed (to you, the readers at least) which will be addressed bit by bit throughout future chapters. Enjoy, next chapters coming ASAP.

Chapter Two

In The Past

April 6th, 2022..

Sameera huffed at Anton. "I don't care, Anton! Let me in." She had been trying to gain entrance to the Workshop, to take a look at the computer like she'd told Rose days before, but Anton wouldn't let her.

"Nope. I was told by Veronica not to let you into the workshop."

"Well, Veronica isn't fully here anymore, you know. Now she's just a remnant melded in Rhonda's mind, and I need to look at the goddamn computer. Stay with me if you're that worried about it but I'm the only one who should be allowed in there as is, pregnant or not."

Anton sighed. "This has nothing to do with you being pregnant, Meera. Promise. I just don't think Nick would want you in there, not after everything."

"Well, like Veronica, Nick isn't here. Just let me in, I'm just looking at that dinosaur of a computer he has in there. I have a feeling I can figure out where he is. Or, and I hate that I'm even entertaining the idea, when he is. So please, little buddy? Would you feel safer about it if I had Ro with me, at least?"

"Yes, actually, but only marginally, with how volatile Veronica can get."

Sameera sighed, looking at the door to the workshop. "Yeah, and there's no telling how she'll react if we do figure this out. We just want Nick back, or the closure that he isn't dead."

"He still might be, if Veronica first died in ninety-eight. But then that would make Nick a looping anomaly in time, wouldn't it? A Glitch, if you will, continuously going back and forth through time to stop the same event with no successful results."

"You've been watching way too much Doctor Who, Ant. No wibbly-wimey, timey-wimey stuff until we at least figure out if he even did get thrown back through time. I can't imagine how he's feeling if he is, probably doing everything he can figure to find his way back to us."

"Even if he doesn't know about the pregnancy yet?"

Sameera scoffed. "Oh, he knows by now, I'm sure. Veronica knew, and we don't know what she told Nick before she kissed him that night. She probably told him."

Anton shrugged, hovering up and down with a small hang to his left. "Well, whatever. Get Rhonda then, if she'll go in there."

"Watch me. Oh, bestie!" She shouted up the stairs to the main level.

Moments later, Rhonda showed up, her head shaking as Veronica voiced her opinion. "Move, Anton. She's the only one truly allowed in there, at this point."

Anton moved to the side and unlocked the door, allowing the two girls entrance into the Workshop. Inside, they moved towards the computer, Sameera shivering as she looked at the discarded ball pit in the corner. "That ball pit gives me the creeps."

Rhonda nodded. "Agreed. Well, the computer is still on. I'm surprised it hasn't overheated, yet."

"With what Nick probably did to upgrade the thing? That would run through a nuclear meltdown, most likely. Now, let's see if we can figure anything out about what happened to Nicky." Rhonda nodded as Sameera sat down at the keyboard, moving the mouse around the illuminated screen. The cursor hovered over one folder, titled Mama on it.

Rhonda raised an eyebrow. "It has to be for you. I doubt Nick was pirating movies on this thing, although it wouldn't surprise me."

Sameera giggled, knowing she had to be right as the opened the folder and a program opened up instead.

Please State Name.. appeared on the screen, like an old school debugging menu. Sameera hummed as she typed in a reply.

Sameera Priyali Anjali. She typed her full name, knowing Nick wouldn't go for anything less for an identification verification.

.. Hey, mama. Took you guys long enough to come search this thing..

Nick?

Yeah, it's me. Or, more a virtual upload of my consciousness. Not easy to do back twenty odd years.

Sameera looked at Rhonda, both shocked. There it was, the proof they had needed. Nick must have been sent back through time.

What year did you create this program?

1998. And if you're looking at this, I must have gotten sent back again.

Again? What do you mean again? Or can you even tell me?

I'm basically a real-life Arnim Zola, Meera, you do the math. Is Rhonda with you?

Yes. Her and the sliver of Veronica's mind that got left behind in her mind.

Fuck. I didn't think she'd have survived at all. Well, I guess you both should listen then, this will take a while. The program is old, after all. So, I set this program up the second time I wound up back here, the first time being when Veronica was telling us she knew a Nick? Turns out, that was the first time it happened.. The program of Nick kept typing out it's story until the program halted as another voice apparently popped into the conversation.

Stop, Nick. They can't know everything. We're already trying to change things again, remember? But wait, there's a part of me still in Rhonda? Put her on.

Rhonda moved in front of the keyboard.

I'm here. Or more, we're here. What's going on?

Have you two been getting headaches lately? Like, the worst over the last few days?

Rhonda looked at Sameera. How could the Veronica of the past and Nick stuck there even know that?

Yeah, we have. I guess you know something about that?

We do, or we have a hunch, but we can't be totally sure. Just trust what your memories tell you, even when it contradicts yourself. Like, does the name Bianca mean anything to you?

Meanwhile, Across Town..

The therapist that took care of all of the Pizzaplex Survivors' therapy leafed through a file as she looked out the window onto the streets below, the sunshine glaring off of the nameplate she had on her desk, a weird little thing in a triangular shape, one side facing the window, one the door to the office and the other a corner of her office behind her own desk chair. As she turned back to face the desk, the light was covered by the back of her chair as the nameplate was fully uncovered. It read Dr. Bianca Rose Fitch.

1998..

Veronica came home to find Nick in the garage, tinkering with a familiar-looking computer. "Is that..?"

"My computer from the Workshop? Yeah, actually. I'm starting to think some of what we went through in 2021 was set up by us in the first place. I'm thinking I set this up in that basement for myself."

"Alright, so why is it here?"

"Because, unfortunately, I can't find an opportunity to bring it out to what will eventually be our house as of yet. Soon, I'll get it done. I have a lot to take care of, it seems."

Just then, Bianca popped her head into the garage and smiled at them. "Sis, can you help me with my homework real quick? Just a look over, I promise." She looked at Nick. "Heya, hottie." She flirted as Veronica rushed her out of the room.

"I told you to stop it, Bia! Jeez, let's go. Nick, put the computer away for now. Let's figure out what we can do for you here first before you start assembling your man-cave that won't even be used for a quarter of a decade, alright? Please, babe, slow down a bit."

Nick sighed, piling the computer equipment together neatly before standing up. "Fine, fine. And I'm not your babe. Whatever happened the first time around, this is different!" He called, unsure if Veronica even heard him or not.

Bianca had, though, and was utterly baffled by their conversation. "What are you two talking about? What does he mean first time around?"

Veronica shook her head. "Maybe I'll tell you one of these days, sis. Right now, just don't mind what me and Nick talk about. And seriously, stop flirting with him. He's mine."

"Yeah, well we both know I'm the more desirable sister." Bianca giggled as Veronica huffed.

"Yeah, whatever you say, narcissistic bitch." Still mine, son or not, although.. For the second time, Veronica found herself thinking of how maybe Nick didn't have to be her future son anymore.

Nick, coming out of the garage and washing his hands of all the dust that had gathered on the computer parts themselves, sat down in the living room, turning the TV on and finding solace in at least semi-familiar episodes of shows he had seen as reruns when he was a child. "At least the scripts haven't been flipped on the TV shows. Nice to see something I completely recognize in an otherwise unknown time."

Pizza Place..

In the basement of the pizzeria, even while customers moved about upstairs, Dave Miller smiled menacingly as he looked down at the little girl tied to the chair in front of him. Her parents had left her there hours ago, and if they had even realized, well, it would be too late as he cut off the little girl's crying with a sickening crunch, the girls spirit rising into the air before getting sucked into one of the animatronics laying around the otherwise bare chamber, as if it had been sucked into a vacuum into the machine. The eyes lit up red as Miller smiled. Soon, he would kill Henry, run the company by himself and rule the world as it's immortal ruler. All as was said by the phantom that guided him in his endeavors, ever since his children themselves had become victims to his madness. A phantom that called itself Malhare.

The Next Morning..

Nick was shaken awake by Veronica, who was frowning. "About time. You need to come see the news. He's starting again." It took Nick a moment in his half-asleep state to realize what she meant, but then he stood up, almost jumping out of bed. Veronica was rooted to the spot, seeing as Nick had been sleeping shirtless and despite having seen it all before, the sight still made her blush until she realized she was staring and shook her head out of her own perverted thoughts. "I was really hoping we wouldn't need to deal with any of this. Michael is already here, can't we just tell him what Afton will get up to and we can just nip it in the bud?"

"You think my uncle is going to believe the truth about all this? That I'm a reluctant time traveler trying to stop his maniacal father who, whether he knows or not, is technically now his boss? Or that you are my mother biologically and another technically future victim of the man who would kill everyone just to have immortality?"

Veronica but her lip, unable to fully shake the image of a shirtless Nick from her mind even as he had already put a shirt on. "It's annoying being able to hear your thoughts, Ronnie." Nick muttered as he slipped a collared shirt colored a blue and gold plaid.

Veronica blushed. "Sorry. I forgot our abilities seemed to evolve once again. But," She giggled nervously. "What were we talking about?"

Nick tripped over nothing, his face thankfully landing on the bed. "Seriously? Ronnie, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, Nicky, I'm fine. Promise. I'm just enjoying this, being a teenager again. I wasn't really focused on it in Rhonda's body because of Afton, and after that I realized who you were, what you were and are to me and then you with Sameera and now she's pregnant but I get you to myself here and I know it happens. You can skirt around the fact you're attracted to me that much with the fact I'm your mother all you want, but let me have my teenage fantasies. I don't know if you've seen the boys our age around town, but none are as good looking as you turned out, so I'll flaunt you around as my boyfriend anyway, because that was the story we rolled with when I finally found you." Her voice had gone from the 'motherly' tone as Nick called it to that of a jealous girlfriend in a matter of moments, and that was what Nick had meant by okay. Nick knew Veronica was attracted to him, and even if Sameera had relented before with letting her sleep in their bed while in Rhonda's body, anything more than that was off-limits, especially with Ronnie's other connection to Nick.

"I'm sorry, that went a little sideways. I'm just trying to enjoy this, Nick." She was looking down at her shoes. "I didn't like when I was a teenager before, but this time is different. My sister, for one thing. Then I'm just in a better place socially and with my parents and other than knowing Afton probably had or maybe still has me in his sights, I just want to enjoy the things I remember about here and now, sleeping with you included. Face it, Nick. You're a stud." She said, sticking her tongue out at him with a wink as she walked off.

Nick facepalmed as he sat back down to pull his sneakers on. "Well, I've officially become an anime protagonist. Actually, more an incest hentai, maybe. Oh, God! Why is the worst thing I can do in this time other than give up fighting Afton be sleeping with who would otherwise be my mother?! And why is Sameera alright at all with already knowing that before I did?"

2022..

Sameera sat in Dr. Fitch's office, her therapy session just starting. She had been humming since she'd entered the office, and honestly? It was strange behavior for her to the good doctor. "And what has you in such good spirits today, Sameera? The little one taking it easy on you?"

Sameera shook her head. "Not particularly easy, no. She's fine, though, just excited like her mommy is."

"Ah, and what's got you so excited, then?" Bianca asked, genuinely curious.

"We found him. Well, where he is. Nick, I mean. Me and Rhonda and Ronnie found something on his computer back at our house. Some low-scale A.I. shit since the computer it's on is pretty ancient compared to what most people use nowadays. No, he somehow uploaded a version of his mind onto the computer as a single program or something, no mad scientist like Nick could be so scientific jargon mostly goes over my head." Sameera giggled. "But it proved he was back in nineteen ninety-eight. Along with the same Veronica we all got to know now, but with her mind added onto her original in the past or something like that. She wasn't really making it any easier to understand, to be honest. And I'm usually second to Nick in science, so that's saying something." She ranted.

Bianca looked at the girl with amusement. "Oh, really? Well, it must be a big weight off your shoulders, at least. Knowing he's alive, even if twenty-five years in the past."

"It is, but I still miss him, and I want him back. I mean, I know things have to happen for him to even still be born in 2004, but knowing he's also slept with the woman who knows herself as his mother still makes me a bit sick. I love Veronica, she's a great friend really, but the incest is still weird." Sameera scrunched her nose up as Bianca laughed.

"Yes, it would be quite the pickle, I'm sure. But, maybe they already thought about a way out of that. I know it's a bit off-putting, but is it possible they figure a way to make her his mother no more? I mean, there must have been plenty of girls in high school who liked Rhiannon. She was pretty popular back in school, you understand."

Sameera tilted her head. "What do you mean? You knew Nick's mother in high school? She's never mentioned anything about you, or a Bianca in general. Funny enough, though, the Veronica Nick put with his mind in the computer asked about that name, too. I wonder why, because you kind of sprang up in town out of nowhere like a year ago."

"Hmm. Quite. Well, I'm sure the answers will come to you, Sameera, in time. Now, how have you been feeling otherwise? Nothing too dark, I hope."

"Nope, well, maybe a bit stormy but not total blackout dark. As I've said time and time again, I miss Nick. That's really the gist of it."

"And you're not worried about how he may feel, say about Veronica from the past?"

Sameera shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Not really. Honestly, if he manages to come back he might be in for quite a surprise as is." She giggled. "But that not really for me to tell you, is it? No, it could only surprise me if they did manage to find some way around the whole Ronnie is his mother thing. Cuz that would for sure cause some changes around here now, wouldn't it?"

"Quite possibly so. So you're confident, still, in your feelings for Nick?"

"Of course I am. We spent too long not together while still having that illusion about us for me not to feel confident. Plus, Nick would end the world if it meant I was safe."

The therapist laughed. "Oh, I have no doubt about that, Sameera. Not with the assurance you radiate about it." And the ignorance of the past is quite surprising, actually. I'd think Nick or my sister would have told you about what they were going to go ahead and do. She thought.

Sameera nodded and sighed. "Everything else is going well enough, by the way. Dad finally backed off of me a bit when it comes to hovering over me. I'm pregnant, not useless. I know he just wants to protect me, doubly so because Nick isn't here but still, I don't like feeling too dependent on anyone, not even Nick and I probably have a bit of an unhealthy dependence on him as it is already."

"Really? This is the first you've openly spoken about Nick in one of our sessions. What makes you say you have a dependence on him?"

"He knows how to calm me down, much better than even Rhonda could. Without him here, the picture of us I do have works somewhat, but I still get bouts of rage that no one else in the house can really control. Honestly, it probably stems from my early childhood, the issues between my mom and dad."

"Ah, yes. A messy divorce and custody battle which resulted in your mother to commit suicide, is that correct?"

Sameera nodded. "Yeah. I've never bothered my father about it, though. I barely knew her and most folks around town tell me that while I'm the spitting image of her, I have nowhere near the depressing tendencies she did. Although, I would disagree with that, sometimes at least."

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

"Simple. Because I always had Nick to keep me from falling into that pit. Now it's more Rhonda and Veronica's job, but Nick will always be the best choice to keep my thoughts in line."

"Mm. Understandable. Now, if you don't mind me asking, you were in fact also possessed by a servant of William Afton, is that correct?"

"Yes, we never knew their real identity, but he was supposedly called the Watcher according to Veronica. He was a silent possessor, always just present in my mind while I had no other knowledge of him. He would report what Nick and us teens were up to to Afton, which made the others stop keeping me in the loop for a while. Once Nick was able to free me, Afton went all out on us and the fight on Christmas Eve happened."

"Uh-huh. And how exactly did Nick free you?"

"His powers. Well, the ones him and Veronica shared. He found a way to send his energy or whatever it really was into me and kind of zap the intruder out of my head. It was the only time his powers had worked in such a way until he managed to finish Afton with Ronnie's sacrifice."

"And these powers.. Can you explain them any more in detail to me?"

"Um.. Not really, no. What I know is that the way he used them were like a self-updating antivirus, useful in absorbing and neutralizing the infection inside my mind. I know it's so far out in space to hear, but that's the best I could describe them."

"Mm, yes. I can see how you wouldn't really know what these abilities of his were. You wouldn't know how he may have acquired them? None at all?"

Sameera shrugged. "Not sure. They started manifesting during the Pizzaplex Incident, just before we split up to finish Afton off and escape. We figured they became usable in a way kind of like with the X-Men movies. You know, that whole spiel about puberty or otherwise highly stressful situations. For Nick, it would have been the latter because Lord knows that boy hit puberty a bit earlier than most."

Bianca looked up from her notes at the girl, a playful smirk on her lips. "Oh, but you two weren't dating or anything like that at the time, right? How would you know puberty hit Nick early?"

Sameera blushed, realizing she'd just let slip something she'd never actually told anyone before, not even Nick himself. "Well, um.. Uhh.." Sameera struggled to find the words for a few moments until she finally managed to blurt it out. "I may or may not have seen him mostly naked once when we were fourteen and.. Yeah, I was impressed, that's all I'm saying."

Bianca smiled. "Well, I think all of us girls have done something like that here or there." If only you already knew, Sameera. "Well, today has certainly been enlightening, but I'm afraid I must cut our session short today. I have some family business to attend to."

"Oh. Alright then. Thank you, Dr. Fitch." Sameera got up and grabbed her pocketbook, realizing what the therapist's last name was. "Hey, doc, you wouldn't happen to be related to.." She turned only to find Bianca already gone from the office herself. ".. Veronica.. Oh well, I'll ask her next week, I guess." She said before going out to her van to go home for the night. It was another of Leon's planned game nights, and even without Nick, the occasion made their home seem just a little less empty for them all.

Meanwhile, at the Survivor house, Veronica was biting her thumb, unable to figure out what her past counterpart had told her on that A.I. program of Nick's. "What could she have meant? They're trying to change things and make Nick another woman's child.. But how would they do that? My number of friends was astronomically low back then. And these headaches are being caused by those changes..?" Just then, the door opened and closed as Sameera entered. "Hey, Meera. How was therapy?"

"Oh. It was good. Um, Ronnie.. You're sure you don't know a Bianca, right?"

Veronica shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure I don't. It's not the most common name, so I'd think I would. Why do you ask?"

"Because, as it turns out, our therapist's last name is Fitch, and your family was the only one with that name in town, wasn't it?"

Veronica looked at her, surprised. How had she never noticed that? "Wait, her name is Bianca Fitch?"

Sameera nodded. "Yeah. I figured you'd have noticed that by now."

"Honestly? I always call her doc, so yeah, no, I didn't notice."

"Hmm. Well, I don't know but she's pretty fixated on learning about Nick, you know."

"Yeah, I know. Honestly seems pretty suspicious to me."

"I agree." Sameera said before she went upstairs to rest as Veronica tried to figure out where another member of the Fitch family could have sprang up from, a headache forming as her mind started trying to decipher this latest mystery. Fucking migraines.

1998..

Apart from the news report the day before about a missing child, there hadn't been any news about possible Afton activities, and Nick had another hurdle to tackle: school.

He realized that, for the first time since facing Afton in that basement, he would probably run into his mother, as well as most of his friends' parents. And if he was honest, meeting all the parents as a teen himself seemed like one of the worst ideas to act on. However, Veronica wanted things to change, and for that to happen, Nick would eventually have to mingle with the rest of the student body in this time, even if Ronnie's ideas on changing the timeline seemed a bit too far.

"Why are you so adamant on changing things, Ronnie? Despite your death originally, time moved forward pretty well."

Veronica looked at him from the driver's side of her car. "Yes, that is true. You were still born, but things are already so different compared to the first life I lived, Nick. And, being honest, I'd rather know I had you and you weren't related to me, as good as I remember the sex the first-"

"Alright, I get it. But even if that happens, it's not like you could come back to the future with me. Not as a teenager."

"And why the hell not? It seems to me that ball pit is the key to getting back to your time, but what's to stop me from crossing over as well?"

Nick tried to answer that, but found he had no answer. "Alright, good point. But, Sameera wouldn't let you near me, even if things changed. How would they even know we were altering time?"

"I don't know, Nick but if it helps me not die and stay with you, I'll take anything."

Nick frowned. "You know, you're sounding a lot like I was before that final battle. You're desperate for all of this, but why? I understand you love me but that's also mostly because of the fact you know I'm practically your son and therefore have that protective will towards me now. And I get you don't want to die but what if that's absolute? We can't change something like that, Ronnie. It would be like trying to stop something like World War II by killing baby Hitler. Some other asshole with an Aryan agenda would have just replaced him."

"I get that, Nick. I've taken Physics. But, if that's the case then even if you do kill Afton in the here and now, then someone else will just rise up in his place and Glitchtrap will still exist."

Nick gasped. "Shit, I forgot. What if it actually isn't Afton setting out to do all this?"

"What do you mean? Like, he was possessed in some way by whatever we call Glitchtrap is?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Anything is possible, really. But, I cannot in good conscience say that Afton is any bit redeemable, whether it's supernatural or mental."

"I agree. I'm just asking that we keep our options open, for anything. As you said, anything is possible, so why not a redemption for our towns local murderer?"

Nick shrugged. "Sure. Maybe. So, do I really have to go to school? I'm already twenty years ahead of your own classes."

"Doesn't matter, Nick. We have to find you another mother, not that I don't love knowing how successful you've become as your mother in that regard but I don't want that familial connection between us anymore. Granted, this may have stemmed from Rhonda's love for you mixing with mine in a very volatile and inappropriate way, but still. My reasoning stands, we find you another girl who will willingly let Rhiannon take their frozen eggs and run with that, hopefully being able to bring me back home with you. No matter how much better my life is here now, I honestly miss everyone from the future. Lord knows Sameera's mother isn't the best girl out there, or the most stable for that matter."

"Yeah, I know what happened to her when Sameera and I were still toddlers. Although, Bayek used to tell us she hadn't always been like that, like it was recent, unnatural even. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Afton was behind that, too. For whatever reason."

Veronica bit her lip, afraid to voice her opinion for a moment. "What if.. Afton wasn't after her mother? What if Afton or Glitchtrap or whomever was actually targeting Sameera?"

"When we were kids? While it would fit Afton's M.O, why?"

"Because maybe Afton remembered you stopping him the original time and tried to stop you from having the drive to keep fighting? I mean, Sameera is your true weak point. If he managed to get rid of her before you fell in love with her, and her with you, then he might have been able to win against you more easily. No matter if there was another girl in Sameera's position if she wasn't present your whole life."

"If anyone, it would have become Rhonda, unless the absence of Sameera.. Shit, I see what you're saying."

"What are you saying? Because all this talk makes me think you both are certifiably insane and should be locked up in the asylum the next town over." Both teens froze in their seats before turning towards the back seat, neither remembering Veronica was driving Bianca to school as well.

"Fuck. It's always something. Fine, sis, you wanna know why I've been weird since Christmas? And what Nick has to do with it? You'll get the full story at lunch. You can wait that long for a damn answer, can't you?"

Bianca was still wide-eyed in disbelief as she nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Jeez, sis you're scary sometimes."

"Yeah, a lot of women I know share that quality." Nick said offhandedly from the front seat, playing with his phone.

Veronica looked. "How are you even charging that thing? And why use it like it works?"

"Using it is an illusion. No, it still has all my old music and stuff, so honestly I was going to start listening to something. I've had enough of this conversation at this point."

"Yeah, I can't agree with you more, Nicky." Veronica sighed as she kept driving towards the school. In an already long week, it seemed today would be particularly long.

2022..

Bianca Fitch hummed as she made herself a cup of coffee before bed. She stopped as she heard her phone ringing, looking at the screen with a smile. The caller ID only read Unknown, but she knew who it was as she answered. "Hey, hun. No, none of the girls have any idea yet, other than the hint Rhonda and Ronnie's headaches are a part of it all. No, our boy hasn't come back to the present yet, but it took you a while to want up to the timeline we all settled for before you went back even further. Yeah, maybe she will too. Sameera definitely seems to be hiding something about that line of thought, actually, but only time, and your younger self's return, will truly tell. Alright, yeah I know they still think it's like magic back then, don't they? Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll talk to you soon, Nick." She said, hanging the phone up before making her way to the kitchen, draining her coffee before going upstairs to bed.