I've been getting into Potter fics again. That being said, I wanted to do something a little more unusual. I love the Metro series. It's a great exploration into what some people consider an overdone trope these days in media: post-apocalypse survival. Specifically, how people live outside of it is a very surface-level dressing on the landscape. Sort of like how Fallout 4's stuff seemed sort of surface-level in comparison to previous entries. So, how do I want to do this?

The idea that I wanted to explore was what if the child that grew to be Artyom was a Harry Potter from another time in the same world. To clarify, what if during the events of Halloween in 1981 the spell that Lily used sent Harry into the arms of a Russian woman in the year 2008. She thinks with her final breath that Harry is safe, but doesn't know what hell her son would find himself thrown into, forced to grow up in, in a single year. Growing up in the Moscow Metro his entire life with the harshness and brutality it does things to a man. During the post-game of Exodus, the Dark Ones see that all this death and destruction can be avoided and send Artyom back to the land of his birth in the past.

This fic will the following the trope in many other fics where Harry isn't at Hogwarts: being summoned during the name-calling at the Goblet of Fire ceremony.

Title: [undecided]

Summary: Artyom has lived a harsh life in the dark underground and irradiated overworld of the Russian Metro. His past is a mystery and strange events happen around him sometimes without explanation. He went on a grand adventure to save his station from the Dark Ones and did save it. But he was destined for three more adventures. The first is to defend the old installation known as D6, Artyom and Anna's expedition to the east, and in returning to the Metro to try and save the last remnants of humanity in Moscow the Dark Ones approach him saying that he can prevent all of this destruction and they have a way to so. They send him and Anna back in time to October 31st, 1994, almost a decade to prevent all the horrors of the Metro from coming into being, but there's one problem: he's in the Scottish Highlands and people are calling him Harry Potter.

Rating: M

Pairing: Arytom x Anna

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Metro belongs to 4A Games and Dmitry Glukhovsky. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. See the forward for the full disclaimer.

WARNING: There will be spoilers for the ending of Metro: Exodus. If you do not care about spoilers, read on.

XxXxXxX

"You are aware that this is a one-way deal?" one voice asked.

"Yes," a second, younger voice replied.

"We have no way of knowing if your... friend will succeed in the task you'll provide him."

"I know. But I have faith in him."

"Faith!?" another guffawed. "He's human!"

"As were we all when the bombs fell," the young voice countered.

"You weren't even born yet!" another called out.

"My point remains valid. You all were human when the bombs fell and he was but a child when it all happened. One of us reached out to him and touched his mind when the place they call the Gardens was opened. You know his spirit."

"Your plan will consign all of us to oblivion to send him where he needs to go."

"Yes. And it is a sacrifice worth making if all this suffering can be prevented."

There was silence among the Dark Ones, contemplating the proposal in front of them. "When would this plan of yours be executed?"

"Artyom is returning from Lake Baikal back to the Moscow Metro soon to show that the greater country can be lived above ground and bring those he trusts to Baikal. When he leaves the lake, then we will act." There was silence once more. "If all goes well, we won't be living in a wasteland anymore."

XxXxXxX

I stood with Anna at my side as the small service for Miller had concluded. In the end, he apologized for how he treated me after I married his daughter. And I accepted it wholeheartedly. I had no reason not to. It was his unspoken last wish. He wanted a stubborn, strong son. Well, he got it in me and was afraid up until the end to admit that his son-in-law was the son he wanted all along. His final request had been to be buried at a tree I had in my vision when I could have sworn I was going to die. I've always been sensitive to the supernatural, my encounters with the Dark Ones and living to tell the tale without brain damage are testament to that. But I'm still unsure if it was a hallucination or an out-of-body experience. It's been several weeks since then and I'm still unsure. The crew of the Aurora had elected me to become the next leader of the Spartan Order and once done they left Anna and me to be alone.

"Artyom, what now?" Anna asked. One part of her was asking for orders, the other genuinely asking what was next. Baikal was a wonderful place. Fresh air, no radiation. The only mutated things were animals that wandered in from the outer wastelands. It was a veritable 'Garden of Eden' if I got my reference correct. The perfect place for either our son or daughter to grow up and grow up strong to face the world (that also implied future children as well).

"Sam wants to go east to Vladivostok and see if he can return home to San Francisco," I replied holding his wife close.

"I imagine the chances of finding adequate transport to sail over an ocean would be quite slim; especially since it has been almost twenty years since the bombs fell."

I nod in agreement. "However, it is his life goal to see his father one last time, even if it is just to bury him. I wish him all the best and will honor his wishes to leave. We will let him take the van we got at the Caspian Sea. He intends to leave in about a week to gather the supplies and fuel he'll need."

"We should send him off. All of us."

"I have no arguments against it. It will sad to see him go. He was a true friend. My only American friend," he mused sadly.

"I'm sure we'll see him again."

"I have a gut feeling that says we will too."

"What about us? Your newly commanded Spartan Order?"

"While I'm strong enough to be up and about unattended, I'm still too weak to do any heavy lifting, hunt or do any expeditions. Well, outside of just general shooting with a Valve or Kalash, perhaps," I joked. "Novosibirsk took a lot out of me." I was still sore, though I'm unsure if that was because of the radiation still purging it is way out or the fall I took near the end of it all.

Anna placed a hand on my chest gently, almost afraid that she'd break me. I had been, just a few weeks prior at death's door and had come back thanks to our friends' donations of blood. "For now, you rest. And when you're not resting, you plan. You can rely on us, even with me being pregnant I'm still a few months out before you have to start attending to me," she joked. She was right. The women of the Metro were a different breed. They kept working until they could work no more and had to rest between the last month or last few weeks until they were due lest they lose their child. Due to her illness passing, I still wanted her to take it easy while she recovered. Plus, with what I had planned she'd be heavy with child by the time we returned to Moscow.

"We will set up a village here with what resources we have so that when we bring others from D6 and the other stations they will have somewhere to live." I look away from her and towards the lake below us. "I am unsure if I want you coming back with me or not; if I should go back with a few people and leave the rest of you here to prepare for our return, or have you come back with me." She was silent as she let me prattle on. "Katya and her daughter are survivors, yes, but they aren't fighters like us. They'd never survive long in the Metro. We'd need to cross the Volga too, while we left many of the cultists alone or dealt with them non-lethally, I'm certain they won't be happy to see our return. I wouldn't be against inviting the Children of the Forest to come back with us as their home is in danger of flooding and Alyosha has good standing with Olga. The former slaves of the Caspian under Giul may be open to joining our community, but I think Giul wants to free the entire region from the slavers. I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to send women and children with us to protect them."

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it, Artyom. But my place will always be by your side no matter where we go." I started to chuckle. "What?"

"You made a pun. We have to cross a bridge at the Volga to reenter Moscow. It's funny."

"It's not," she slapped my arm playfully.

"It kind of is." I continued to laugh for a tiny bit longer before becoming silent. I watched out over the lake with Anna for a while longer before we called it a night.

The next two months went by quickly. The first month I was 'mister laid up' and couldn't do any heavy lifting as Katya kept a close eye on my recovery; Anna had long since been away from her gaze after her recovery but still had to get checkups for her pregnancy. We saw Sam off. I was... conflicted as I had discussed with Anna. Sam was a good friend and friend to the Order, hell, a hero to the Metro; seeing him go was heartbreaking. I knew in my heart of hearts that we'd see him again. We started building simple log cabins. Unfortunately, we were only able to build one communal cabin. Sam, when he was still around, said it reminded him of the old 'long houses' of the Native Americans when he had seen the plans for the first one. Alyosha had kept in contact with Olga and the Children over the radio and formally invited them to join us. They said that they'd hike the entire way here in no time at all. Surprisingly, they somehow arrived the day of our leaving. They promised to continue where we left off and by the time we returned, there would be an entire village waiting for us.

As for the rest of that time, before they arrived, we made all of the prep-work needed to make the little village succeed in our absence. We found wild pigs and tamed them. Or as tame as you could make wild pigs. The lake made for a great fishing location and based on Sam's advice on moderation, we would need to carefully watch how much fish we pulled from the lake so that they could repopulate lest we lose a source of reliable food and have to venture away from the lake. We still used our rooms in the train car for some more... private time, if you catch my drift. Me and Anna and Katya and Stepan respectively. The rest of the Aurora crew were more than happy to let the young couples have their space when they needed a few hours away together. On the final day we were there, the Children arrived. And so, I announced my intentions. Anna had Nastya and Kirill round of the members of the Aurora crew for a meeting. While it concerned us, the Children were invited as a show of good faith between our groups.

"As some of you may know, I have spoken about this day for a few weeks now and my intentions," I begin to the core of my group, the Children listening on in interest. "I want to go back to the Moscow Metro and bring as many who are willing to leave here to Lake Baikal." There were quiet murmurs from the Children. Some of them had divulged to me that they once had family living in Moscow before the bombs fell. "Anna has already made her opinion known on this and will join me," I as she steps beside me in solidarity, "despite me saying otherwise." This got me a harder than joking, but softer than 'I want to hurt you' elbow in my ribs which caused me to cough slightly. I looked down to see her starting to show. She was already starting to begin her second trimester and she had a baby bump. "Yermak has already pledged to helm the Aurora wherever she may go. So, I offer those who wish to journey back into the wastes beneath Moscow a chance to follow me back. I know for some, you wish to stay here, and I understand that." Stepan looked down guiltily for a moment. "You do not have to come back if you do not wish to. The road may not be as treacherous as our road here was and I will not lie, it will still be dangerous, doubly so once we re-enter Moscow. Those who wish to stay may stay; those who wish to go with me, you are welcome."

There was a silence as everyone took in what I said. "You are the new commander of the Spartan Order. Where you go, we go!" Idiot announced. "We cannot let our commander get into uncertain situations without us to save his ass."

"Hear, hear," Alyosha, Duke, Tokarev, and Damir said in unison.

"And you are welcome," I say. I turn to Katya and Stepan. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I don't want to expose both Nastya and Kirill to the dangers of Moscow and the Metro there if it isn't needed. We can make do with Damir as our medic if need be."

"No," Katya declined. "Someone has to continue monitoring your health and keep an eye on your wife's own pregnancy. Considering her exposure and rapid recovery with the medicine you got from Novosibirsk, I want to make sure that the child you bring into this world stays in this world for many decades to come."

"And if my wife is going, I am going," Stepan said with finality.

"And Nastya and Kirill?" I ask. "What of them? The trip could last almost a year if the trip here in the first place is anything to judge it by, even if we are speeding past many of our previous points of interest except for what we need to continue." Stepan looked to the two children he considered his own. They looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I know we haven't known each other long, Artyom," Olga spoke up, "but we have had a few children from couples in our tribe and while some of them were younger than these two, there would be those among us who would be willing to foster and care for the two until you return as if they were our own."

"Olga's offer is a viable one," I suggest. "I don't want to put the two in any further danger than required or that you're comfortable with."

"We are a family, and families stick together. That goes for Nastya and Kirill, and me and the Aurora," Stepan said with conviction.

"I agree," Katya hesitantly did. "I agree with your sentiment of not wanting to put Nastya and Kirill in danger, Nastya and I have been in danger her entire life from the mutated wildlife, raiders, and those like the cultists at the Volga. Kirill has revealed to me the same."

"Some of the horrors he saw in the Novosibirsk Metro were just as bad as Moscow," Stepan added for context.

"And I know that you and the rest of the Spartan Order will protect us from whatever may come our way," Katya finished.

"That we will!" Stepan boomed with laughter. "So, Artyom, are we welcome aboard the Aurora for one more round trip?" he asked with an outstretched hand.

I took it and shook it, "Welcome aboard once more, Stepan." I turn to the rest of the crowd, "We leave at dawn."

Alyosha looked a bit uneasy and approached me quietly. "Artyom, a moment?" I nod and we go outside to look at the lake overview.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" I ask him. I would have lit up a cigarette and then offered him one, but Katya was quite insistent on me not having anything that wasn't food, water, or general medication that may affect my condition before I got a full clean bill of health. The headaches from withdrawal weren't pleasant.

"It's about me and Olga," Alyosha started. I could tell that he was unsure how to proceed.

"Ah."

"I would like to ask your permission to bring her along on the journey."

I turn to him. "You do know that this will be quite a long journey, yes?"

"I do."

"I also know that you and Olga have only known each other in person for a few days but have spoken to each other for a month or two."

"I know."

"Then you know that if for some reason if this not-so-long distance relationship doesn't work out, then it will be a long, awkward couple of months for the two of you, correct?"

"Both she and I know that this was a possibility. But we click, I think that was the term Sam used when talking about how well people mesh together."

"That would be the one." I was silent as I thought it over. Olga was a good huntress, but that was when she was in her element, such as here at Baikal, as that's what she and her tribe had to survive in for twenty long years. But the Caspian, or Volga? Different outdoor environments. Not to mention the Moscow Metro itself was its own beast, both those that couldn't think outside of 'what's for lunch today' and those that could. "Has she already nominated a second to take her place as the leader to keep the building of our little village going?"

"Yes. One of her most trusted men."

That made it slightly easier. "She may come," I said which caused him to fist pump. "But she will pull her weight just like the rest of us."

Alyosha nodded, "I wouldn't expect her to do anything less." And with that, Alyosha left to tell his new paramour of the news.

Due to the... unexpected amount of people coming back with us, basically, the entire Aurora crew plus Olga and Kirill, Yermak and I had to plan and coordinate our water and food supplies accordingly. It wasn't too hard, considering that Miller's rations would be assigned to Olga and one extra person's split in half for the two children. It would add up over the time we would be on the railroad, doubly so when we arrived at Metro and would need another train car to take whoever wanted to come with us back to Baikal. My biggest worry, though, were those soldiers that were part of the Russian military – the same military that Miller had once been a part of – who would be enforcing the communications blackout across the entirety of Moscow. Anna and I had accidentally broken their network jammers when stealing the Aurora, but it would almost be a year since our leaving, would they have those same communication jammers back up? We had a few months to prepare, but once we are in range, we'll need to do some scouting to ingress into the Metro, or at least that same warehouse, so we can gather whoever wants to leave.

Which got me thinking on that as well. The people of Metro were stubborn to a fault – all survivalists were as what has worked for them in the past has kept them alive and they will continue to do so until presented with that thing no longer working to keep them alive – and taking this into consideration, the people of Metro had been surviving off of rat, hog, and rabbit – the latter two for those more well off – as well as so many mushrooms. The only thing they had known, the same as I did until recently, was the underground tunnels of Metro, especially those who were the children of those who entered the Metro. All they knew of the surface was a poisoned, cold landscape with monsters even more monstrous and dangerous than those of the tunnels. To them, the only people who could survive on the surface were the Stalkers (like Khan) and the Order. Though true of the dangers (Demons still give me nightmares and I hate to face them unless I have superior firepower), I myself also didn't believe that there could be life outside the Metro untouched by the madness of man and their bombs. But Baikal? It was Eden. A paradise unexploited by man with fresh water and other resources to allow a community to thrive for many generations.

My plan is to make it back to D6 and sortie as much of the Order as possible to go to each friendly station and put out a call for all those wanting to leave Metro behind. Though, I'm unsure if we'd need to screen anyone. The Red Line and Fascists would be right out due to obvious reasons. There's no way the two would make peace; especially with the attacks made by the two in 2034, the Fascists attacking Polis no less as well wouldn't garner them much favor. Refugees, though, maybe another story. Those wanting to escape both sides and wanting nothing to do with their conflict. But the Hanza? They were glorified mobsters in merchants' clothing. While the people under them could be trusted to an extent, the same couldn't be said for the Hanza themselves even if they were the most 'civilized' of the factions of Metro, that wasn't saying much, unfortunately.

I met with Olga's second in command and hashed out the plans for the village we wished to establish. Olga and her people were more comfortable with elevated housing as that's what they had survived in, and I could see the appeal, though it did depend on the trees themselves. They had to be strong enough to support the weight of a tree house. Not only that, but a lot more craftsmanship would need to go into it than just cutting down trees and stacking logs to make longhouses. But there were settlements according to the map around that could be scavenged and resettled, granted if there weren't any raiders living there. If there weren't then a potential trading relationship could be established, of course, if there were anyone still there. After all, the lake was 636 kilometers long and 79 kilometers wide at its largest points, with tens of thousands of kilometers of surface area of water alone. Plenty of space for us to expand if needed and leave space for other survivors. Olga's tribe was instructed to attempt peaceful contact, if possible, to start trade relations with those they found. The Children were just as tired of war as I was, luckily, but they were like me in that I wouldn't kill unless provoked to. Seeing as we were prepared as we'd ever been, we left to a waving crowd of Olga's Children of the Forest who swore to have our village actually look like one by the time we returned. And thus, our journey back to the Metro began and our little village disappeared on the horizon.

I sat in the engine compartment overseeing the initial departure. "How does it look? I ask Yermak while observing the map.

"So far, so good. The time we spent with you recovering allowed me to perform much-needed repairs while the Aurora wasn't running," Yermak replied as he watched his gauges. "So long as we only stop for needed resources and food scavenging, we should be back within the Moscow city limits in two months at our current speeds."

"Good," I reply as I keep my ear on the radio to hear if anything comes through. "Keep me posted."

"I wi-," Yermak suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" I ask but there's no response. I look up to see Yermak and the Aurora stuck in place while everything was clouded in a blue hue.

"It's been a while, Artyom," a familiar, echoing voice said. I stood up and looked outside to see a gathering of Dark Ones standing outside the Aurora with one shorter one standing more forward than the rest. I step outside to see the gathering of a 'horde(?)' of Dark Ones surrounding the entirety of the train. I leaned against the railing that kept me from falling off the train itself. The last time I felt something like this was during the Battle for D6.

"Little one?" I ask and the Dark One nodded. "You've... grown."

"As have you in your own ways," he replied. "But yours was a growth of self-discovery more than anything else."

"Why are you here? Weren't you going... somewhere?" He did never really specify where.

"We did and upon further discussion, while we believe there is a way for all of us, humanity and us, to get along, we do not wish the suffering of this world to continue. So, we've come up with a plan: we will send you back in time."

I blinked in astonishment. "That's possible?"

"Not without great sacrifice. A sacrifice that my brethren are more than willing to make to prevent all of this tragedy inflicted upon those who survived. But time is short and we can only stop time in this area for a few more minutes before we must send you back."

"How is preventing all of this possible? What must I do?" I clarify.

"We will be sending you back in time to the year 1994 to provide you with the most amount of time to gather a power base and prevent this great, global tragedy."

"Why 1994 specifically?"

"There were things about your past your mother wanted to tell you but couldn't before the bombs fell and her passing. One of us was able to see into her mind just before she passed," the Dark One explained with remorse, like he broke a taboo despite it not being him, not directly. "As for the year, that is related to that, but I can say no more. Time is short. Gather a power base and close allies in 1994 and prevent this great tragedy."

"What about you?"

"We will use the entirety of our power to send you back, this use will consume all of our life force. It is a one-way trip." A hum started to resonate in the air. "Goodbye, Artyom. You are a good man, and a good friend."

"Wait-!" I call out, but there was a flash and suddenly I found myself and the rest of the Aurora in a deep forest that felt familiar for some reason. But I had never been in a forest like this. And the time of day had changed. Where it had been the early morning before, now it was the late afternoon based on the position of the sun in the sky.

"Artyom, how did you get out there?" Yermak asked at the door. "And where are we?"

I looked at him. "Keep on track but watch for new oddities and proceed with caution. I need to gather everyone up for a meeting." And gather everyone up I did, (well, except the children) and we met in the engine car so Yermak would be kept in the look.

"What is it, Artyom?" Idiot asked.

"Plans have changed," I reply gravely. No one said a word, allowing me to continue. "How many of you are familiar with the event of the Battle for D6 last year?" A few raised their hands. "Now how many the true reason we were able to survive?" Only Stepan, Idiot, and Anna's remained. "Miller didn't tell everyone and I'm not surprised, it's not something he'd want getting out lest the wrong ears on Polis heard. Anna and I rescued a little Dark One and returned it to its family which happened to have a group of Dark One in suspended animation inside D6 who helped fend off the Fascists and Red Line preventing me from detonating the charges that would have stopped them, saving our lives. The Little One left with its family stating that he'd return one day, that day was fifteen minutes ago."

"But we didn't see anything," Stepan stated.

"It was like with D6 for those who they aren't currently addressing," I start to explain. "One moment things look one way, the next it is different."

Stepan nodded. "Yes. One moment the Fascists are gloating over us, the next, they are gone."

"Similar to what just happened now. One moment we're in the year 2035, the next in another place in the year 1994." This caused everyone to pause.

"1994?" Anna asked.

"Allegedly, if the Dark Ones were truthful and successful."

"But why?" Alyosha asked.

"Because we need time and we've been tasked with the most important mission in our Order's life. We are to prevent the Great War from ever happening in the first place." Dead silence as the words left my lips.

"I'm sorry, did you just say preventing the Great War? As in, keeping the bombs from dropping?" Tokarev asked. I nodded. "Now I've heard everything."

"The Dark Ones could have let us die at D6, yet they didn't all at the Little One's urging. Why would they kill us now? Even if they owed us a life debt that they repaid with their assisting us at D6, why would they go out of their way to kill us now?" I urge.

"Artyom, we trust you," Duke started. "With everything you and Miller led us through to get to the paradise that is Baikal, how could we not? But you can't help but to take a step back and see the absurdity of what you're suggesting. Time travel?"

"Sounds a lot like those novels I used to read in my childhood," Yermak commented offhand. "Isaac Asimov? Or was it HG Wells?"

"Point being, we've been transported to another place entirely, one that none of us recognize," I try to steer us back on track. Yes, I do realize the pun with us being on a train. "I left my Geiger counter at the front of the train for the last bit and there's no radiation at all, not to mention that the stars are all out of line for the area we should have been and for what part of the year we should be in."

"He's right," Idiot added on. "I may not be an astronomer but I am good at math. Running the numbers, we're somewhere between the 50th and 60th north parallels – though if I were a betting man, I'd edge more towards the high 50's, the weather is different than what we left, and the sun appears to be setting quicker meaning we're either in the late fall or early winter. It was spring at Baikal." The rest of the crew let the smartest man in the room be smart and let it sink in.

"Have we truly gone back in time?" Damir asked.

"I don't know, but we are on a railroad still," I reply. "Sooner or later, we'll come across a station we can search for newspapers. If they look fresh and have a date in 1994, then the Dark Ones were successful in sending us back."

"What of my people?" Olga asked with concern.

"Time travel is a difficult thing," Yermak said still keeping his eye on the railroad ahead of them. "Popular media, American and otherwise, have different rules. First you have the 'Back to the Future' type where if you change anything in the past then your future changes if you were to go back. Then you have this other type, I forget which story I read it from, where you changing something in the past doesn't matter because it has already happened. I think it was the British and that one television show about some kind of doctor that called it a 'big ball of wibbily-wobbily timey-wimey stuff' or something." He turned around to silence. "What? Can't a bored train operator read while you're out doing whatever it is you're doing or reminisce on my childhood and young adult years?"

"It was just..." Olga started.

"Unexpected," Anna finished.

"Chances are," I continue, "if we're successful and the bombs never fall then your teacher and your other classmates will still be alive living their best lives if we were to somehow return. Because changing the past changes our future and carries forward."

"He's right," Yermak chimed in again. "Assuming, of course, that's how these Dark Ones' rules of time travel work."

"Thank you once again, Yermak. You are a fountain of interesting, and on-topic, information." The older man nodded his head in appreciation of the acknowledgment. "But for now, we need to focus on the present."

"Speaking of the present, there's a train station coming up ahead, I'll slow us down."

"Speak of the devil, and he will appear," I mutter the 'ism' that Sam had once taught me in passing. We all looked like people observing a slow-motion car crash as we all lined up against the window to see the pristine train station. It didn't look like the ones we had passed that were overgrown with weeds and flora, or in disrepair. The one that came to mind was the one in the Caspian that they stopped at for a few days while they addressed the overheating issue of the Aurora. They then looked to me, looking for orders. "Duke and Damir, you and me will quickly search this station for information. If there is nothing, we will press on."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Anna asked; fearful once again that'd break like a porcelain doll.

"Katya rated me good enough for light service," I reply with a smile. "We'll go over to the station right there, do a little look around for no more than an hour, and then we'll be back to plan our next move." I gently place my hands on her shoulders and give her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be back before you know it." She rolled her eyes. Somehow, I always got involved in something bigger whenever we left the train. "That's why I have Duke and Damir with me. Better?"

"Better," she finally relented. "But if you get hurt, I will lock you in our room until our child is born," she added.

"I'm not sure if that's much of a punishment," I reply with a smirk before pecking her on the lips. "I'll be back soon, promise."

She rolled her eyes but let me go. I went to the back of the living quarters and suited up. Nothing heavy, just my clothes with a vest to carry my gear. "Orders?" Duke asked.

"We pack light. Kalash and revolver or Duplet. I don't intend to be here any more than an hour. Just a quick look around for info and then we're out of here." The other two men nodded picking up small arms. We left with Stepan and Alyosha watching the two main entry points to the train.

We walked over the few paces to find that yes, this was a pristine station. Looking down the line, it was a lot bigger than the little hut that we had first seen. Just beyond this waiting area was an entire train yard it seemed, but it was deserted. Well, less deserted as there were still things here, but almost like whoever managed it went on vacation or something. Everything was neatly put away. It didn't look like any of the abandoned places that I had been in before.

"Artyom, there's a newspaper stand here," Damir announced quietly. "Doesn't look rusty or anything." He pulled at the mechanism that would dispense a newspaper. "Still locked too, not looted. Can't make out the language though."

"It's English," I say. "Sam used to write his notes in English when he didn't want the other men of the Order reading over his stuff. He taught me how to read it just in case," I explain. "Still can't speak a word of it though except for a few regional curses that Sam taught me."

"Convenient, what does it say?" Duke asked.

"October 31st, 1994."

"Shit," Damir muttered.

"So, it is true," Duke added. "We traveled in time."

"Or, it's a mass hallucination brought on by the Dark Ones," Damir suggested.

"That's what I was thinking at first," a voice called out from the other side of the platform, behind them. They swiveled around guns ready, only to lower them.

"Sam?" I ask. "How did you-? I thought you were-?"

"In Vladivostok?" Sam asks and I nod. "I was, then I wasn't. I destroyed the only way to visit San Francisco to keep it out of the hands of a madman," he morosely said.

"Wait, but you left two weeks ago. How could you have already gotten to Vladivostok?" Duke asked.

"Time travel," Damir said. "If he was sent back from a later time, it would all look the same to us when he got here."

"Time travel?" Sam asked. "No, that's not possible."

"Other than a mass hallucination, how would you explain being here?" I ask.

Sam was silent for a moment before concluding, "Good point."

"How long have you been here?" Duke asked. "Did you find anything out?"

"An hour or so, at least I think it's been an hour. Looking around, we're in a place that speaks English fluently," Sam started to explain as Damir wandered up the small hill, pulling out his binoculars. "I haven't seen anyone yet, but then again I've sort of limited myself to the station here."

"Hey, guys?" Damir called out. We turned to see him at the top of the hill. "Does Russia have any castles?"

"Castles?" Sam asks.

"Not that I'm aware of," Duke replied. "Does the Kremlin count?"

"Sort of, but not really," I reply to that question.

"It definitely isn't the Kremlin," Damir said from atop the hill.

We climbed the same hill and I took the binoculars from Damir and looked at this supposed castle. "What the-?"

Sam took them next, "Did we land in some kind of bullshit fantasy land?"

"Fantasy land?" Duke asked as he took his turn to look. "Looks Western."

Sam looked at me, I was the commander of the Order now. "Your call, want to go check it out?" I looked back at the castle to see that it was lit up with lights in every window.

"Looks like someone's home," I comment. Something inside me said that this was where we needed to go. "Damir, go back to the Aurora and let them know what and who we found. We'll keep in radio contact."

Damir nodded and went back to the train. "Anna is going to kill you," Duke commented.

"Well, let's make sure that the people in front of us aren't going to kill us first," I retort.

"Fair enough."

We start to walk and as we do we pass carriages that appear to have skeletal horses hitched to them. "You guys see this too, right?" Sam asked.

"Skeletal-looking horses. Leathery wings?" Sam nodded. "Then, yes. We do see it too."

"They don't look like any kind of Demon-adjacent mutant I've ever seen," Duke added.

"Demons were bats so they make sense. Nosalises were moles. The spiders were, well, spiders," Sam commented. "Never seen a horse topside before."

"Nobody knows what the Librarians are."

"Escaped gorillas?"

"Perhaps."

The small talk passed until we reached the staircase. "Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like stairs?" Duke commented.

"Every time we have to climb them," Sam replied. "At least with these they're solid and you don't have to worry about them dropping from under you."

"Fair."

We continued step after agonizing step until we reached the top. It was a good decision to travel light instead of in full kit, but Sam wasn't in light kit but his full kit but it seemed to bother him none. I took out my radio, "Aurora, this is Artyom. We've reached the doors of the castle," I announce.

"Copy that, Artyom," Idiot replied. "Just say the word and we'll storm in to help."

"Hopefully it won't come to that. I'll be in contact again soon." I turn down the volume of the radio and turn to my comrades. "Let's go." We walk inside and it is quite large. Larger than the Library I had to 'pleasure' of exploring a few years ago. We held our rifles in low ready just in case. There was a booming voice down the way before applause. It didn't sound like Russian. "Sam?" I ask.

"We're too far away for me to tell clearly. Come on," he urged and took point. It happened again but this time it was louder. "Ok, I heard that one. 'For Beaubaxtons: Fleur Delacour.'"

"Beaubaxtons? What's that?" Duke asked.

"No clue, but we're dealing with people that speak English," Sam replied as he kept his ears open. It happened once more. "Ok, that was 'For Hogwarts: Cedric Diggory.' That is the most English name I've ever heard."

"So?" I ask.

"So, either we ended up in Lord of the Rings, or something completely different we can't even begin to understand."

"Well, then, let's understand," I say as I push the doors, we heard the last name come from open. The entire room was filled with children of various ages dressed in… I think those are robes?

"[For the Aurora: Harry Potter? Wait, Artyom Miller?]"

"Artyom Miller?" Sam asked.

"What? I took Anna's last name because I had none. I figured it'd be the best way to keep the memory of the Colonel alive."

"That's nice and all, but old and beardy over there just called out your name."

"I'm Artyom!" I call out. "Hello!" Everyone turned to see fairly well-armed Stalkers standing near the entrance of the hall which was quite large. One might say that it was great.

"It looks like I'll have to play translator," Sam grumbled.

"The curse of being bilingual," Duke added.

"My name is Sam Taylor," Sam introduced himself. He then pointed to me, "This is Artyom Miller. He doesn't speak English."

"How did you get here?" the old man asked.

"Sir, even if we were to start to tell you, you wouldn't believe us."

"Try me."

To be continued…?

XxXxXxX

And with that, another story idea is done. This idea has been in the works since about last August and only now have I been able to complete it. I don't have much else to say about the idea other than it is interesting and I wanted to write it. I do suppose there is one author's note that I do need to make. Apparently in the Volga mission, if you sit around Sam long enough after a certain checkpoint, he'll note that he doesn't really know English anymore, but since you have to intentionally wait a fair amount of time for it to appear, the canonicity is questionable. Ergo, for the sake of this story, it's not included. It's been nixed if you will. But that's all I really needed to note.

On to other story ideas. I haven't come up with any new ideas as of late, so I can start working through some older ideas, like this one. If I do get other ideas, I'll be sure to let you know at least the properties involved in this type of section. I don't have any real-life stuff I want to share as nothing really new has appeared. I am still unpacking though from the move and I'm sorting through my old stuff to decide whether or not I truly want it or not. But that's a whole other process for another time to discuss.

Let me know what you thought of this idea in all the usual places. I'll see you in whatever I decide to do next.