Inspired by RooftopWritingPrompts Prompt #19

Tim took a deep breath. And then another one. And a third one for good measure. Should he count to ten? Backwards? Or would a hundred be better? He will not shout. He will not shout. A spot glowed briefly on the screen, wobbling slightly. You know what? Never mind.

"Sarah!"

Sarah McGee just rolled her eyes but otherwise ignoring her brother. As usual. It was good to know that some things didn't change just because they were adults. She moved her character so that it was in front now expanding and glowing spot. Before he could say anything (or shout something, let's be honest he was all ready to shout here) she clicked her controller a few times and her character was gone. Just like that. Without waiting for any input from him. A message appeared on the screen.

"Sarah!"

"What?"

Why was she getting impatient with him? He was the one who should be impatient with her! Actually, he should be annoyed. Especially since her cursor was hovering over the 'continue' button. They were not going to be continuing anything of she was going to be like this! Where was he even supposed to start?

"Why did you even use that?"

It was completely unnecessary. Extremely unnecessary. And she hadn't even asked him. No one ever did. Was it really too hard to do? Really?

"To rescue him," she said in an exasperated voice. "Just what is your problem?"

"My problem? My problem?" Yes, his voice was getting more shrill as he kept talking. So would your voice if what just happened had happened to you. "My problem is that you combine it with a time orb. A time orb!"

"Yes," Sarah said slowly, as if speaking to a particularly stupid child. "Because I needed to go back two decades. Funnily enough, time orbs let you do that."

He ignored her sarcasm; it wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand here!

"You can't just go around combining a time orb with a transportation portal!"

That, that just wasn't done! Not like that, anyway. And not for the reason Sarah did it either! One game, could he not just have one game where things like this didn't happen?

"Says who?" She demanded and then pointed to his computer screen. "One formed, didn't it?"

Tim huffed. Yeah, okay one formed. That much was obvious. It was a great big glowing thing after all but still!

"That's not the point! The label says, 'product for intended use only'! I'm pretty sure using it to build a portal to rescue your dead brother is not its intended use!"

It really wasn't. You weren't meant to be able to pick and choose where the time orb brought you back to. It was just meant to bring you back to the past where you were standing. Sarah, obviously, hadn't done that. No, not at all.

"Of course, it's its intended use," Sarah argued. "What else am I meant to use a time orb with?"

"It's meant to be mainly used on objects! Kind of like a magical security camera, so you can see how it's been used. Or to go back in time briefly in this spot you're standing in."

Did she not read the I formation boxes at all when they popped up on the screen?

"Nowhere does it say that I can't use it with portals."

"It doesn't say you can!" Tim all but shrieked in his frustration. He took deeper and somewhat claiming breaths at Sarah's annoyed look. "Is it worth wasting on a character you deemed unimportant?"

"Well, I need his skill set," she said matter-of-factly. "We both do and you know it."

Tim refused to admit such a thing and tried to wrestle the controller out of Sarah's hand. She was literally the only person he could try that on. Ziva would kill him; he wouldn't dream of manhandling Abby and Tony would just end up infuriatingly winning. At least with Sarah he had somewhat of a chance. Oh, and they were siblings so they were pretty used to this sort of nonsense.

"You shouldn't have sacrificed him in the first place!"

He had warned her about that when she did it. Tried to tell her that it was a mistake but did she listen? Of course not. She never did.

Sarah, annoyingly, won by poking him sharply in the ribs. That always hurt. The McGee siblings glared stubbornly at each other, Sarah also tauntingly hovering her finger over the button.

"I didn't think he would be useful!"

That was as close as she was going to get to admitting that he was right.

"Then it's your fault that you can't go that way across the Marsh because you don't have a smuggler. Try something different."

"Don't be stupid, this will work."

And with that, Sarah clicked the continue button, transporting her character back in time. The scene changed from a Marsh to a city. A very busy one. Tim blinked. It was weird seeing lots of people fill the screen again.

"See?" She said triumphantly.

Tim raised his arms up in disgust and exasperation. This is what he got when he invited his little sister to play video games with him. Just like what always happened even back when they were kids and playing Mario together. Je glared at the screen and crossed his arms. He refused to participate in this nonsense. No. There was no way.

It was like she hadn't even contemplated the impact of changing the timeline like this. Of course, she hadn't. She had just gone and clicked buttons and did what she wanted. No thought into it whatsoever. Had she thought about what happened when they inevitably went back? That it wouldn't possibly be the same? There was no way she hadn't because she wasn't thinking.

"Huh. Where is he?" Sarah wondered out loud, frowning at the screen.

"How am I supposed to know?" Tim couldn't help but say bitingly. "You were the one who sacrificed him to get away!"

"Somebody's a little bit grumpy."