Picture Perfect- Part 2 Time And Place Verse (Verse 8)

by MistyMay6886

Simons 1st day at Oasis. working with Military professionals, crazy scientists led by their fearless and fabulous leader Magnus, a picture perfect 1950s family thats anything but perfect and a supervillianish boss intimidating and flirty is a lot. But Simons nothing if not adaptable…Thats good…Between the Mags-sanity, Becks helpfulness and Raphaels secret hes REALLY gonna need it.

6. 6-Robosquids And Rockabilly

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Chapter 6:

Robosquids And Rockabilly

{*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^} *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-* {*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^}

Oh my god this is SO freaking cool!

A real live mission on his very first day! Seriously that's j-

No...Calm...deep breaths. You're not some flaily, fumbly college student with the energy of an over caffeinated chipmunk on a sugar high anymore:

You are an Oasis Scientist.

Oh my god you're a-

No...Again; calm. Deep breaths, reel it in. Be professional. Be focused. Be an Oasis Scientist. You've told them over and over that you can do this but actions speak louder than words. And flailing, babbling fangirling speaks even louder. You know you can do this but you need to get them to see that. That ain't gonna happen if you're babbling a mile a minute, fangirling every time you turn around and flailing like a marionette who's puppeteer is being bombarded by bees.

Deep breaths...focus...concentrate on the mission. We're almost there...we'll be landing at the site of the anomaly in about ten minutes the-huh...

He paused, gaze flickering over the map projection of their landing site.

"Hey wait, it says in the datapac the readings from the travelers were coming from the north side of the island? Why are we landing so far away?"

Alec gave a faint shrug.

"Because you never want to just drop in out of the blue without doing some form of recon first. It's always best on a mission if possible to ensure you can get on the ground, get situated and assess the situation before just jumping in blind."

Alec shifted, turning more towards the screen, setting up, hitting a few buttons on the side of the readout screen, bringing up the topographical map, pointing at their chosen landing spot, gaze shifting back to Simon.

"See the place we're landing is one of the highest points overlooking the island, it's about a mile and a half hike to where the Candle anomaly opened, and close to one hundred feet higher. We'll be able to get a nice clear view of the location from there and the distance gives us the advantage of choosing exactly when and how our presence is revealed to the travelers. Readings show a lot of rocks, brush and other natural cover we can use to disguise our movements.

Looks like the vehicle's on a low lying flat expanse at the bottom of a basin like area on the north face of the island. We're coming in low from the south so they don't notice anything off...well you know, besides careening through a shimmering portal and ending up stranded on a deserted island. We'll land on the ridge out of view, get a clear bead on the targets and be able to assess the best way to approach from there."

Simon blinked, brow quirking.

"Targets?"

Alec kind of faltered, shrugging.

"I-well th-"

Bindy snorted, flashing a teasing smile, gave a faint wave towards Alec, shrugging unconcerned.

"Targets, rescuee's, marks, travelers, whatever you want to call them. The people we want to get a bead on before they get one on us. Semantics aside Boyscout's right. Whenever possible go for the high ground and scope it out before diving in. I'm all for playing it by ear and changing things up on the fly but the more you know of the situation going in the better you're gonna be able to gauge your next step. Best way to know what audible to call is to know as much about what you're dealing with from the get go as possible."

Alec nodded, gesturing over towards Bindy.

"Exactly. Diving in without scoping things out should always be a last resort. Sometimes that's just what you gotta do but always get as much on the ground, real time info as you can before making a move. Reports don't always translate to the real world. We have the basics going in but there's a big difference between reading a report on a plan for a mission and actually being on the ground for it.

Even the most routine, mundane seeming mission can take a turn to something totally different and just assuming everything you need to know is in a datapac and going on blind faith is a good way to get in over your head fast.

We don't know anything about the travelers. The island is totally deserted and it's generally a no fly zone during this time of year- something about disturbing the sea birds breeding I don't know. What I DO know is they're five people from the 1950's who traveled through a sparkling hole in time to the future and landed on some random island completely devoid of human life. They're gonna be confused, disorientated, likely terrified and not have any clue what the hell is going on.

They probably don't know the 'future' thing yet. Don't think there's too many context clues they can pick up from a deserted island sea bird nesting ground but regardless of what they DO know they have to know something is majorly screwed up. They ended up traveling through a glimmering hole in the fabric of time- and you know the weird, unsettling, skin crawling, ugh feel of that jump.

They have to be on edge trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Confused, hopelessly lost, frightened and on edge can turn to aggressive and violent very easily especially if they feel threatened or trapped. I know we hear 1950's we think I love Lucy and Leave It To Beaver but remember these are people not even a decade off world war two and just heading into the Cold War.

This is the time of the red scare and McCarthyism when everyone suspected everyone. From the time when bomb shelters were a standard home feature and schools had air raid and atomic bomb drills. They're not gonna be some naïve, overly trusting simpletons. They're likely gonna be suspicious, on edge and if need be maybe even ready to fight.

They see some strange, unidentifiable ship come down out of the sky, what are they gonna be thinking? I mean given the context what would you think?" He paused, glancing over at Simon.

Simon faltered, kind of shifting, shrugging.

"I-w-well Me? I'd probably think it was another Roswell b-"

Dani snorted, flashing an amused smile, gesturing towards him.

"Hey solid theory. Right timeframe and Sci-fi was pretty big in the 50's. That's about when it really got its start. Honestly that'd probably be the best case scenario for us. Could make it a hell of a lot easier getting them to believe the whole time travel/future thing."

Alec huffed out a faint laugh, rolling his eyes at his sister, shifting back to Simon, head tilting concedingly.

"Admittedly it IS a possible reaction- and always good to have all possible scenarios so you're truly prepared for every eventuality. However it's also probably a pretty unlikely one. Most likely reaction to seeing a strange flying craft landing is it's some kind of crazy, top secret Soviet spy aircraft and completely freak out or go on the offensive. We don't want that.

Also we have absolutely no idea who they are; they could be literally anyone. A family out for a Sunday drive, a group of friends out for a joyride, criminals trying to outrun the cops, soldiers out on maneuvers, hell given the time it literally COULD be Soviet Spies. We have no way of knowing right now. They're just five random people in a car that drove through a hole in time. We need to figure out how that happened.

It's not like the rifts are hard to spot so the question is how'd it happen in the first place. Were they running from something? Were they drunk? Thrill seekers? Just somehow REALLY distracted to the point they didn't notice a giant, shimmering, hole in the fabric of time until it was too late? Was there an actual reason they drove through or were they just some poor schmucks who took the wrongest of wrong turns and ended up driving through before they knew what happened?

Whatever the answer is that's likely gonna be key to how we need to approach this. And regardless of whoever they are they're gonna likely be confused and scared and likely none of them are gonna be overly gullible. And this is pretty far out there.

When we tell them the truth they're probably not gonna just take us at our word. They're most likely gonna think it's some kind of trick, trap, attack or threat. We want to avoid that if at all possible.

That's why we're flying up low on the opposite side of the island and landing behind the ridge. It should give us a clear line of sight to the location of the readings. We can assess the specifics and get real time, on the ground data, figure out who exactly they are and find the best way to make contact.

Once we get close enough-"

"We are now." Bindy interrupted, slipping out of her seat, moving over to the readout, hitting the panel next to the screen, bringing up the controls.

She shifted closer, imputing her bio info, the map of the island flickering and fading, the screen shifting to window mode. It blurs for a moment before clearing, showing a stunning view of the long, craggy island ahead of them, covered in sparse scrub brush and grasses, with a few spurts of color from wildflowers, waves crashing along the boulders. The surrounding cliffs are dotted with seabird nests and scrubby trees jutting out of the cracks in the rocks. Simon shifts a bit closer to the screen turned window, trying to get a better view.

Wow, it's actually really beautiful, kind of wild and natural. There's a faint bit of fog clinging around the rocks giving it a near otherworldly quality. It's real-

Simon starts at an odd low humming sound, followed by a blazingly bright violet pulse that seems to shift over the entire island, pulsating for about twenty seconds before dissipating, the readouts lining the screen/window buzzing to life.

Whoa! What th-

Simon startled, whipping around towards Bindy, eyes wide, gesturing towards the window.

"Thought you said we were trying NOT to freak them out!?"

She shrugged.

"We are."

Simon snorted, brow quirking.

"And a weird, purple ray beam engulfing the entire island isn't gonna do that?"

She chuckled, again shrugging, flashing a sly little smirk.

"It would...if they could see it."

"Huh?"

Dani shifted forward, flashing a reassuring smile, waving him off.

"It's ultraviolet, they didn't see or feel anything out of the ordinary. We just see it because the window is specifically treated to allow us to see things in both the visual and non-visual spectrum. It's not harmful, just a more thorough scan. It allows us to get more in-depth readings of the travelers. I-" her sentence is cut off by a little chime type sound, the screen shifting from the map to a rundown of the collected data.

It flashes twice before shifting back to the map, the readouts pinging, popping up on their holowatches. On Simon's shoulder Becks startles, squeaking faintly, ocular sensor blinking, head shaking like someone trying to get water out of their ear. Dani flashed an apologetic smile towards the little tredectipod.

"Sorry Beck's should have given you a bit of a heads up. It automatically transfers the data to all our communication devices so we have the data easily at hand...unfortunately as you're your own communication device it does the same for you. You okay?"

Becks huffed in irritation but gave a faint nod. Simon smiled affectionately, reaching up, lightly patting Becks comfortingly.

"Sorry bud, it shouldn't be too bad afterwards. It's just the first data transfer that's startling. At least after this the programming from the transport will reconfigure with your systems specifications and it should go a lot smoother."

The little cyber-squid started, turning, glaring at him. Simon blinked, somewhat thrown at the irritated, faintly betrayed look the little cephalopod was giving him, head tilting in confusion.

"What?"

Becks sputtered, nudging him, a cacophony of squeaks, boops and beeps emitting, tendrils waving animatedly. Simon shrugged, brow quirking.

"What? Raph told me."

Becks set up straighter, the squeaking intensifying, one tendril waggling like someone disciplining a disobedient child. Simon gave a faint snort, shaking his head.

"Hey! Don't get mad at me! We weren't 'gossiping behind your back'. You fell asleep! Not my fault you weren't paying attention."

More beeping, trilling boops and animated tendril waving.

Oh that obnoxious lit-

Simon scoffed, rolling his eyes, waving him off.

"Give you a heads up? Why do I have to give you a heads up? I thought you knew! You were in there the whole time."

More beeping and dolphin like squeaks. Simon sputtered, glaring faintly at the obnoxious little brat.

"Pfft! Well how is that my fault? I'm not the one who fell asleep. And how was I supposed to know what you missed when you fell asleep? I didn't know you fell asleep! We were at work, with our new boss going over the details for our new workplace. You should have been awake AND paying attention."

Becks 'pfft' right back, very pointedly rolling his ocular sensor, holding up one tendril making a very distinct 'blah, blah, blah' gesture.

Simon gasped, eyes widening.

"Oh we were not going on! We were talking about work. My- OUR- new job! With OUR new boss. If you're not paying attention you're gonna miss things. I swear you always do this. This is just like last Tuesday when-"

"Ahem...?" Bindy cleared her throat, brow rising, an amused little smile tugging at her lips.

Becks and Simon froze, turning as one towards her. She sighed, head tilting, brow quirking a bit higher.

"Guys? Entertaining as this is we're kinda off topic here. Domestic squabbles and family drama aren't really what we're here to deal wit-"

"Actually Bindy you might be wrong there..." Dani interrupted, flicking through the info on her holowatch.

"Our Travelers seem to be a family. Genetic markers suggest parents, Father and Mother 40, two biological sons, ages 22 and 17 respectively and a female relative from the mother's side, age 20, a niece or cousin perhaps. The readings from particulates on the car show it's from 1958, dust and pollen from the tires and grill indicate late summer, early fall and somewhere in the San Fernando Valley suburbs."

Simon blinked, spat with Becks forgotten, shifting his focus to his own holowatch read out, paging through the info.

"So a suburban family from the 1950's? Well probably not the Sci-fi fanatics that'd be easiest but all in all probably one of the less dangerous options, yeah?"

Alec sighed, head tilting giving a faint wave.

"Eh...well yes and no. I mean on the one hand it's not soldiers, spies or drunken jackasses out for a joyride so there is that. On the other there's no one you're gonna be more protective of than your family. If you think there's a threat you're gonna be more apt to go into defensive mode and you'll fight harder than you would if it was just you or you and a few buddies. We have a father and a 22 year old male. Both will likely feel it's their duty to protect the family. We need to approach this one very carefully.

We don't want to sneak up on them, that'd seem threatening and likely put them on the defensive. On the other hand we don't want to just bulldoze in, seeming like we're just swooping in out of nowhere and taking them into custody. On the OTHER other hand we don't want to appear weak or unsure. Our team isn't gonna be what they expect for a rescue party. It's gonna throw them- especially the males. It needs to be clear that this is our mission and we are the ones in control here. We have two adult males from the 1950's; not really a group known to be overly submissive or agreeable. They cannot get it in their heads that this is their call.

Our mission is to bring them in and keep them safe till they can be returned to their time. This is not up for debate. We want them to come with us willingly but we cannot just leave them here. As I said this place is closed to humans at this time of year. That being said it's not like it's covered with a cloak of invisibility; it's just not supposed to be accessed. The longer they stay the more likely someone will notice them. When we leave them and their vehicle are going with us. They put up resistance and we will have to subdue them and take them with us by force- No one wants that."

Bindy huffed out a faint chuckle, smirking, giving a slight shrug.

"Speak for yourself Boyscout; I'm good with going off script."

Simon swallowed, glancing over at Dani and Alec trying to gauge their reactions. Dani looked amused while Alec just looked faintly exasperated- so not really too much help...that's basically their default expressions. He kinda thought she was just joking...but he also kinda got the feeling it was one of those 'funny cause it's true' type jokes...so...uh...yeah...

He shifted hesitantly, subtly moving closer to the others. Alec huffed, rolling his eyes, sending a totally heatless glare Bindy's way.

"Yes well for the rest of us we'd much prefer to simply take the path of least resistance."

She chuckled.

"Same...though I get the feeling we have different ideas of which path that'd be." She smirked, giving a casual shrug, hand slipping down, patting the weapon strapped to her hip.

Alec groaned, rolling not only his eyes but his entire head, pushing his hair back. Simon gulped, shifting a bit further away, Becks skittering over to his other shoulder further away from Bindy, tucking in close to his neck. Dani gave a soft laugh, sliding over next to him, settling between him and Bindy, reaching over, squeezing Simon's arm reassuringly.

"Relax, she's just screwing with...well basically everyone but me. She talks a good game and push comes to shove her bite IS a hell of a lot worse than her bark but she really is one of the good guys."

Bindy chuckled, brow quirking teasingly, glancing over at Dani, nudging her shoulder.

"You telling lies about me again?"

Dani laughed, flashing a teasingly cheeky wink.

"Yup, always- keeps people on their toes."

Bindy laughed brightly, winking right back.

"And this is why you're my favorite."

Alec snorted, shaking his head.

"No she's your favorite because you two are so similar. She may hide it behind the fancy lab coat and designer tags but she's just as much of a wildcard as you."

Dani laughed, shrugging, smirking impishly.

"Nah- It's just cause she thinks I'm hot."

Bindy shrugged.

"Can't argue that point."

"Oh god...if that's not a match made in hell I don't know what is." Alec muttered, yet again rolling his eyes, waving the two of them off, setting up straighter, shifting his focus back to the task at hand, flicking through the readout on his holowatch.

"Alright if we're done with the comments from the peanut gallery let's get back to it, shall we? While you two were-whatever the hell that was- we have already landed and the transport has sent out the scouting drones to give us a clear visual of the travelers. They'll do a circle around the island and send back any relevant data."

Simon smiled, relaxing faintly, nodding.

"Kay cool, and you don't think the drones will be red flags?"

Alec shook his head.

"No should be fine- they're tiny, about the size of a bumblebee- actually their default skin is specifically designed to mimic one and the covering has realistic chameleon circuits to allow it to copy its surroundings if the bee thing won't work. When the camo's initiated they're basically invisible. Usually just one or two go out for the initial scouting but the transports outfitted with over two hundred."

Simon blinked, giving a low whistle.

"We have a swarm of bumble bee drones with the capacity of functional invisibility? Dude...that's like next level. I don't know if it's insanely cool or just insanely disturbing. Who would-"

"Raphael." Bindy, Dani and Alec chorused in near perfect sync.

Simon huffed out a faint laugh, head tilting concedingly.

"Ah- kay- yeah, pretty on brand there."

Bindy snorted, the others nodding in agreement. Simon shook his head, unable to stop a faint laugh, giving a bit of a fluttery little wave before continuing.

"Well I guess at least they're just for scouting and not defense s-"

"Ahem..." Bindy cleared her throat, Dani glanced over, raising her eyebrow at her, she shrugged, brow quirking right back.

"What?" Simon asked, looking between the two.

Dani gave a faintly apologetic shrug and a kind of 'what are you gonna do' wave.

"Well..."

Simon blinked, looking between the two before shifting from the somewhat terrifying twosome back over to Alec, leaning in.

"T-they're just doing their 'screwing with the new guy thing', yeah? The invisible bumble bee drones ARE just for recon...right?"

Alec faltered, giving a slightly unsure wave.

"Umm...technically? Yes...I mean I've looked over the specs and don't see anything outwardly defensive but to be honest my knowledge of robotechnics and all of that is pretty much limited to setting my coffee pot and readjusting the settings in the training gym.

Basically unless it's labeled in the manual as 'laser beam of doom' or 'death ray' I won't catch it and I don't know that I'd put it past the guy to have a few built in defenses just in case. Actually I'd be more surprised if there weren't. He literally weaponized flirting. Kinda get the feeling everything the guy makes can double as a weapon if need be. So...umm...yeah..." he trailed off, shrugging.

Simon blinked, swallowing before giving a kind of quick nod.

"Okay so we are definitely working for a supervillain."

Dani gave a faint smile, shifting forward, patting his leg.

"Eh- I usually go with pseudo-supervillain. Has a nice ring to it. Besides as any comic book enthusiast worth their salt knows you can't really be a supervillain without a suitably dramatic origin story. Till he gets that we're good. Basically we just try to make sure that doesn't happen.

Besides, gotta admit it does have its perks. You HAVE seen the benefits package right?"

Simon snorted, head tilting concedingly, giving a slight shrug.

"Okay, fair point. And I guess so long as we keep him from getting his dramatic origin story and the paperwork involved stays too much of a hassle for him to slog through I think we're in the clear. Never thought anyone would actually say this but thank god for bureaucracy and red tape."

He couldn't help one more chuckle, shaking his head at the sheer absurdity that was his new pseudo-supervillain boss before taking a deep breath, settling, glancing around the transport at the others.

"Kay so- done with the side trip, back on topic. Once we get the data back from the totally non-supervillianish possibly weaponized invisible stealth bumble bee drones we'll be able to get a real view of the place and the people and then we can get started, right? I mean they've been here for almost three hours now and like you said the longer they're here the more likely they are to draw attention."

Alec smiled approvingly at the shift back on topic, nodding.

"Yeah, soon as we get the readouts and an actual visual we'll head out. I want enough info to go on but the more people here the more it's likely to draw attention. Divya's keeping an eye out for any mention of the islands and if she finds any she'll redirect them as best she can- and the girl has a real gift for that- but even so we don't want to take any more chances than we have to. Once we get the info we'll need to go through it fairly quick and be ready to move. The airspace is closed but that doesn't apply to drones or satellites or whatever kinds of tech biologists use to monitor seabird breeding grounds.

Ideally we want to be done with this, get your readings sent to Mags and have the traveler's and the car loaded into the transport and be ready for lift off in two hours tops. Good thing is once the whole ' the future is now' cat is out of the bag we can ditch the stealthy thing and just signal the transport to come down and land by the car so we just have to hike one way. We'll go a-" He's cut off by a chime, the window flashing and flickering before shifting, clear view shimmering, seamlessly blending to the video feed from one of the drones, picture popping up in clearer than clear focus.

First thought- woah- those drones had some seriously advanced cameras. He could see the people clear as if they were standing directly in front of him.

His second thought is they didn't actually get people from the fifties but the cast of some 50's tv show.

On the screen he sees a bright red convertible with odd white wheels that looks like a toy car you'd pick up at the drugstore. It fits perfectly with the people surrounding it...well most of them anyways. There's a tall man, probably around six feet or so. He's wearing a pair of brown suit pants, white dress shirt and brown tie under a dark green corded sweater vest. The man has dark blonde hair cut into a clean, tight, no nonsense style- clearly the patriarch. Dude looks like the stock photo dad in one of those old timey commercials they'd watch in history class from the REALLY old days when they advertised smokes and tobacco on TV. Simon half expected him to pull out a pipe and newspaper and start telling an antidote about kids these days.

Stock photo dad is leaning against the car, arms folded, talking to what is clearly the oldest son. He's nearly the spitting image of the dad, just a slightly shorter, somewhat doucheier looking version. The guy's dressed in a pair of dark colored corduroy pants, a deep blue sweater vest similar to his father's over a light blue shirt only without the tie and with a blue and yellow varsity jacket over the top of it. Letterman jacket dude is about an inch shorter than the father, similar build, bit wider shoulders. They have the same dark blonde hair, the son's a more stylish but just as clean cut style with one of those Elvis-y type swoops, though his eyes are a hazely blue like his mom's instead of the dads deeper green. Dude looks like a freaking Happy Days escapee- also kinda like a major tool.

Standing a bit away from the car and the two men is the mother, the younger son and the girl. The mom is very much keeping up the stock 50's character vibe- she looks like an extra on I Love Lucy, every bit the picture perfect housewife and mother. She really is quite lovely with deep auburn hair painstakingly fashioned into a perfectly quaffed style- one of those things with the twists and swoopys and those weird but cool roll-y things that go this way and that and he thinks some kind of a braid or pins or...something. He didn't know but it was perfect whatever it was.

The hair was topped off with a little white pillbox hat, which kinda seemed overboard to him after someone spent so much time on their hair to toss a hat on there but it just kind of nestled between the curls and rolls and swirls. He kind of wondered if the woman had put the hat on before and styled the hair around it.. It seemed like a LOT of work. She's dressed in a soft looking, sunny yellow short sleeved polka dotted dress with a white belt embellished with a little bow on the front, the skirt flairs out and when she moves it does that swishy thing. She even has on dainty white gloves and white heels...the woman literally looks like a freaking museum exhibit template of the perfect 1950's housewife.

Yeah so these three look pretty much like they're ready to do a re-enactment of some Alec At Night Anthology...but as for the last two?

Well...that's kinda where that ends.

The younger boy and the girl standing with her kinda just look like normal high schoolers. The boy's wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue checkered button up shirt. The shirt's partially untucked and kind of looks rumpled. He has his mother's auburn hair, it's kind of longish coming nearly to his collar and sort of messy. It's clear at some point he tried to style it but it's also clear it has by now very much gotten away from him. He has a bright expressive face and a smattering of freckles sprinkled over the bridge of his nose and his dad's deep forest green eyes, though they look a lot softer and more expressive.

As incongruent to the 1950's tableau as the boy looks the girl seems even more out of sorts. She looks less like the poodle skirts and ponytails type from the fifties movies and more like someone about to challenge James Dean to a drag race-which...okay right time period but doesn't really fit given the rest. Jamie Dean is wearing cuffed up dark jeans with scuffed up black motorcycle boots and a light blue button up under a beat up brown leather bomber jacket. She has short, messy, just rolled out of bed type light blonde hair, silvery blue eyes and a teasing little smirk.

The smirk seems pretty out of place given the situation but the meaning of it is pretty obvious. The smirks directed towards the youngest son setting close to her side. He's leaning in, listening to something she's saying. When she finishes he blinks in surprise, laughing brightly.

The mother huffs, giving a faintly censoring look, clearly reprimanding the girl for whatever seemingly inappropriate thing she just said. The younger girl flashed a fakely contrite smile, placatingly holding her hand up, giving what seemed like a totally false apology.

The mom just looked them over for a moment before finally just giving an irritated huff, flashing one more somewhat rebuking look before rolling her eyes, waving the two of them off, turning, making her way over to the two men. The teenager and the girl settle closer, the girl starting on something else clearly designed to entertain and distract the boy. The kid's leaning in eagerly, pose relaxing. As the mother turned Simon caught the faintest twinkle in her eye and the barest hint of an amused smile before she blinks it away, expression slipping to warm and concerned, settling in next to her husband.

Hmm...Okay...interesting...not what he expected. Which is probably to be expected working at Oasis. I mean-

His thoughts are interrupted by the simultaneous pinging of their holowatches, the data beginning to scroll through there as well as along the edge of the screen. On Simon's shoulder Beck started faintly before pausing, head tilting. He pauses a moment longer before bouncing lightly, giving a soft little chirp like noise. Simon smiled, reaching up, lightly patting him.

"See buddy? Told you it wouldn't be so bad after the first time..." he hesitated, head tilting concedingly, shrugging, gently petting his head.

"And I am sorry for not thinking to give you a heads up about the first download. I swear I really did think you knew."

Becks shifted, kind of pouting for a moment before shrugging right back, shifting sheepishly, reaching up, patting Simon's head, a little chirping, booping trail of sounds emanating.

Simon couldn't help a soft laugh, brow quirking, nodding teasingly.

"Yes you should have stayed awake at work. You should always stay awake at work- especially in front of your boss. Pretty sure unless it's part of an experiment or something work is basically a no napping zone. Even so I know you were spinning about today as much as I was this past week, if not more.

I can't really blame you for dozing off after everything was official and we were settled into our lab and through all the hurdles and it was really real. You still really should have stayed awake but I also should have realized way earlier that you were out. Besides I know how you tend to zone out when I get going for too long. I really didn't think it was that long b-"

"But it was and you were and you're sorry and he's sorry and you're good now and we have our download and visual so we gotta focus on that." Bindy interrupted, brow quirking expectantly.

Simon started, blushing, glancing around at the others. Dani sighed, flashing a faintly apologetic smile Simon and Beck's way, reaching up, patting his shoulder.

"Sorry kiddo- really glad you made up and you two are cute as hell together but she does kinda have a point. We got our info dump and our visual so our clock's really starting now so unfortunately- and I mean that sincerely- we'll have to table the adorable cyber soulmates thing for later." She smiled once more, squeezing his shoulder before shifting forward, glancing over to Alec on Simon's other side, gesturing for him to continue.

Alec flashed a faint smile her way, nodding appreciatedly, glancing over at Simon, catching the somewhat bashful look he had. He sighed, giving a faint shrug and surprisingly reassuring smile, waving him off.

"It's no problem Simon- distractions, side trips and random spiraling are kinda baked into the job here. So long as it's not a major time crunch/life or death type thing we can spare a few random flights of fancy so long as we get back on topic fairly quickly. Don't think for a second you're the only one who gets distracted and goes off topic. Remember; our 'fearless leader' head scientist is a guy who glitter bombed a pissed off T-rex-"

"Gorgosaurus-" Simon automatically blurted before freezing, eyes wide, flailing, animatedly waving.

"Oh dude! Sorry force of habi-"

Alec huffed faintly, rolling his eyes, yet again waving him off.

"Eh- Mags does the same thing, should have it down by now. Anyway Fluffy the Gorgosaurus notwithstanding it's a bit of an eccentric working environment. Flights of fancy, meandering, and getting sidetracked are just par for the course. It's kind of to be expected with creative, imaginative types- which you have to be to come up with the total insanity that is the bulk of Oasis's projects. Someone bickering and making up with a robot is probably not that uncommon of a thing there...hell it's probably downright normal with these loonies.

You're good- our clocks started but it's not like it's a life or death type thing. There's no ravenous primordial monster out for our blood. We just really want to get this sorted and back to Oasis before any of this is spotted and we need damage control." He smiled once more reassuringly before settling back, glancing over the others, paging through the data on his holowatch, beginning.

"So at least now we got eyes on the travelers. From the readouts and the drone scans it shows that in the three hours they've been here the dad and older brother made a circle around the island, likely trying to figure out what's going on or searching for other people. Looks like at one point the younger girl walked the island as well and even came up this way to the ridge, likely trying to get a better sense of things."

"Smart girl." Bindy muttered, looking over the traces, nodding approvingly.

Alec nodded distractedly.

"Definitely...that's good. If she climbed up here she'll have seen that there's no touch of civilization here...again that'll work in our favor. If they know they're stranded somewhere they're likely not gonna put up much of an argument about leaving, especially as they're most definitely not set up for camping and roughing it.

The mother and younger brother pretty much stayed within sight of the car for the duration.

None look overly dangerous. Father and older brother could be a bit of a challenge but they also don't exactly look like creditable threats. The drones scan the area and people for weapons and besides a tire iron in the trunk I don't s-

Hmm..."

Simon started faintly, shifting closer, leaning in, peeking around Alec's shoulder at the readout.

"Hmm? What hmm? Are they armed? They're a family! Like the stereotypical 1950's suburban family almost to the point of parodies. The older three look like they literally could have stepped out of an advertisement or sitcom. Why would a family be armed?" He gasped, starting, bouncing lightly in his seat, excitedly tapping Alec's arm, leaning in closer.

"Oh dude! Could it be a family of spies?! Like in those old shows. I thought that was just like urban legend, panic and pop culture! I mean I guess it would explain the whole picture perfect thing but that's a bit out there even for us...right?" Simon blinked, eyes wide, gaze shifting from the readout back up to Alec expectantly.

Alec blinked, kind of leaning back. Simon froze, realizing he's practically cuddled up to his side, almost nose to nose with him, leaning in to see Alec's readout when he has the same exact info on his own holowatch. He shifted back, blushing sheepishly, a nervous little chuckle slipping out, reaching up, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Uh...s-sorry dude- Kinda get carried away sometimes. I know personal bubbles are a thing I just kind of lose my sense of personal space when I get going on things and this is l-"

Alec chuckled, once again just waving him off, smiling in amusement, shifting the readout so he could see it better, nudging his shoulder.

"It's fine Simon. Good that you're so eager. Energy and imagination is always a good thing. And you're right they do seem straight out of a museum exhibit but I don't think it's a spy thing- just a time thing. At this point in time image was everything and most everyone was expected to put their best foot forward pretty much anytime they stepped out the front door.

And while the whole embedded spies posing as a nice suburban family isn't totally without precedence- there have actually been cases of sleeper cell type spies uncovered from this time- it really is highly unlikely that's what we have here. There's no firearms or anything else overly dangerous. One of them does have a pocket knife but given the time that'd hardly be unusual...

What is a bit unusual is it was detected on the girl, which is why I was 'humm-ing'. It just seems a bit odd."

Dani snorted, shrugging, settling closer.

"For the time in any case. Though looks kinda on brand for that particular girl. I'm going with that's a good thing. I like the clothes and styles and all the aesthetic stuff of the time but all the culture crap and ingrained misogyny is a fair bit less appealing. Girl clearly isn't a cookie cutter Stepford wife in the making ready to head out to the sock hop. I'm counting that as a win. Thinking we'll have at least one person pretty good with the whole time jump thing...

And since she's the only one armed thinking that plays out in our favor."

Alec chuckled, head tilting concedingly.

"Fair point...but even so she is armed- rudimentary as it is- and by the looks of it she's pretty protective of the little brother. Plus unless it's just a guise or an outfit for some kind of play she was supposed to be in it looks like she's probably not afraid to mix it up a bit if she needs to. That means we have three people who could be potential issues if they're not came at just right.

We don't want to go head on just barreling in but also not overly stealthily like we're actively trying to get the drop on them. We have to appear trustworthy but in charge and we need to try our best to convince them to come with us willingly. The whole being trapped on a deserted island thing'll probably help that but they may be thinking whatever brought them here will happen again and give them a chance to get back.

If that's the case they might be rather hesitant to come with us. We need to convince them, hopefully without making it obvious they don't actually have a say in this.

Thinking our best bet would be to get them to believe the future thing as quick as possible but we need to do it with something far less menacing than a twenty five foot transport swooping down out of the sky and a couple armed people in tac gear jumping out.

We can show them our holowatches or small things like that but again at least a few of them are likely to be suspicious and we have to kind of expect them to assume it's a trick or a trap of some kind. So we need something that is both undeniably futuristic and not a trick but at the same time completely unthreatening and approachable. Also gender's probably gonna be a bit of a factor here- least with the guys. By the looks of it the younger brother and girl will be totally fine with it but the dad and older brother are probably not gonna want to be rescued by this specific team.

They're likely not gonna believe Bindy and Dani can hack it here. We may need to find a work around to get them on the same page and smooth things along. Not sure how but if we can establish communications with them without them immediately realizing that half the team they're talking to is women it'd likely make things go a lot smoother." he trailed off, glancing around the others, brow rising.

"Any suggestions?"

They all glanced around kind of unsure. Bindy shrugged, smirking, giving a bit of a wave.

"Well again we can always go off scr-"

Alec groaned, head shaking exasperatedly.

"Any suggestions BESIDES ambush and abduct them? I'm pretty sure that's where the whole alien abductions stories come from. Kinda wanting to keep that as the backup...or the back up to the backup...or even the back up to the backup to the backup.

Any NON-traumatizing suggestions?"

They were all silent for a moment, thinking.

Kay so...futuristic but non-threatening...clearly real but obviously not an attack or weapon...something interesting and unique that kind of lowered peoples guard a...Hmm...

Simon froze, head tilting, shifting faintly, glancing over on his shoulder, gaze shifting contemplatingly over Becks.

Hmm...

He hesitated a moment before shifting forward, holding up a finger.

"Uh...think I might have one..."

Forty Five Minutes (and one very stumbly hike down a freaking mountain) Later...

Okay...It's official- he REALLY needs to up his cardio.

If this hiking thing is gonna be a constant in this job (and who's he kidding it's gonna be a big part) he is really gonna have to up his tolerance for it. It's just a mile and a half to the anomaly site but it's a mile and a half down a freaking mountain- he doesn't care what Alec says about it not being a mountain if it's not blah, blah blah whatever. It's a freaking mountain. It is a mountain covered in craggy holes and boulders and slippery moss and rocks and grass and some seriously pissed off seabirds.

He's starting to think it's not closed during bird breeding season to protect the birds from the public but to protect the public from the birds. They're squawking and flapping and swooping and glaring at him like they want to peck his eyes out. As if he's some kind of weird bird-pervert or something...which...o-okay from their POV he probably IS but that's beside the point and anyway-

He starts faintly at a hand on his shoulder, whirling to it. Alec flashes a faintly apologetic smile, leaning closer, voice going hushed.

"Sorry for the start but this is close enough. They're just on the other side of the boulders, soon as we step out we'll be in their line of sight and with the birds and the waves there's a bit of cover noise but I don't want to chance them hearing us. Are you ready?"

Simon took a deep breath, giving a nervous nod.

"Yeah...think so. Well I am at least...Though to be fair I'm not the one with the hard part."

Alec nodded, gaze shifting from Simon over to Becks on his shoulder, head tilting, brow quirking.

"Are you ready Becks?"

Becks bounced lightly on his shoulder before standing up straight, giving his best serious look and nod along with a little salute and three squeaks. Alec blinked, huffing out a soft laugh, glancing over at Simon.

"Was that enthusiasm or him mocking me again?"

Simon sighed, giving a faint shrug, flashing a guiltily apologetic smile.

"Umm...yes?"

Dani snorted, reaching over, patting Becks head.

"I love this little guy."

"Of course you do..." he muttered, rolling his eyes affectionately at his sister before shifting back to the little robosquid.

"Alright smart squid you're up. Let's see what you got."

Becks gave a light squeaky laugh, bouncing once more before turning, clamoring up on Simon's head, lightly hopping off, latching onto the craggy boulders next to them, easily skittering up the twenty foot face of the volcanic rock. On Simon's wrist his holowatch chimed, the display flickering before the scrolling mission fades to the video feed from Becks ocular sensor, allowing them to see everything he sees. At the same time the sound kicks in, the little pattering sound of his tendrils sticking and popping off of the rocks, the sound of the seabirds intensifying as he gets higher up.

The other three crowd close to him. Dani's breath catches faintly, brow scrunching in concern.

"I hope none of those birds bother him, I'd hate for the little guy to fall."

Simon shrugged, shaking his head.

"He'll be fine. His tendrils have microdermal hooks, kinda like on a geckos feet. They retract when he's not using them- which is why he sometimes shifts or slides on my shoulder but they're very effective. Also even if he did he'd be fine. He has his gliders and his exoskeleton is made of Dyneema and Beryllium, it's pretty much indestructible. The birds might kind of scare him but if they do he'll just scare them away with lights or whistles or-"

They start at a loud, very distinctive roar sounding, echoing through the trees.

Simon groaned, rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

"Or a freaking Gorgosaurus call..." he muttered looking at the screen input as Becks crests the ridge getting a clear view of the travelers.

They're no longer semi-relaxed, standing about chatting. They're scrambling back to the car, eyes scanning the area worriedly looking for whatever terrifying beast just bellowed. Simon sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head, shifting closer.

"Becks-Overkill seriousl-"

Becks squeaks, head shaking causing the view to jostle and bounce, a cacophony of offended beeps, trills and boops emanating. Simon huffed, waving.

"Yeah I know I saw the birds- I get that they freaked you out but still it was totally ove-"

"Simon they're gonna try to driv-" Alec interrupted.

He started, nodding quickly.

"Right! Sorry! Becks, initiate gliders and some sound to get their attention- in a nice non-monster way. Something someone from then might actually recognize or register."

There's a sulking little grumbly squeak before he nods again, darting to the edge of the rock face, pushing off, little gliders extending from his tendrils, colors pulsing and shifting. In the car the girl happens to chance a glance up, catching sight of the lights.

"What the hell is that?!"

The others start, looking around in fear, still not looking up.

"What? I don't s-" The older brother begins.

She smacks his arm, drawing his and the other's attention, pointing up.

"THAT!"

There's a chorus of gasps, squeaks and someone screams. The older brother blinks, looking terrified, shifting down in his seat, the dad shifts closer to the mom, apparently trying to shield her, the younger brother and girl seemingly frozen in shock.

Simon starts, swallowing, shaking his head.

"Damnit Becks you're still scaring them! Play some kind of sound- some none terrifying sound- maybe something they'll be able to identify. Just play something!Anything!"

Becks huffs but a few chords began to play...it sounded familiar but Simon couldn't quite place it. On the plus side it wasn't the roar of a primordial monster so at least there's that. And they didn't look quite as terrified now. Did look a fair bit more confused though.

In the back seat the younger son seems to snap out of his shock, eyes wide as saucers- but he doesn't look scared, he looks ecstatic. He laughs brightly, practically giggling, reaching over, animatedly smacking the girl's arm trying to get her attention, bouncing in his seat gesturing towards Becks.

"Yes! Aliens! Called it!

CALLED IT!"

Beside him the girl manages to pull her gaze from the shimmering, color-changing hovering robosquid to give the teen an amusedly affectionate look and a very sarcastic eyebrow raise.

"Aliens who like Elvis?"

The boy sputtered, bouncing up in his seat, gesturing animatedly at Becks.

"You got a better explanation for THAT?"

The older brother swallowed, shifting nervously, looking at the dad.

"The Soviets?"

The dad's eyes flickered, hesitating a moment before shaking his head.

"It's not the reds...if they had this kind of equipment we'd be toast. Far too advanced."

"Also probably not really Elvis fans." The girl mumbled.

The mom set up, looking over Becks curiously.

"Ours?"

She blinked, head shaking.

"Pretty sure we're nowhere near that- and again: Elvis."

The older brother swallowed, eyes wide, fixed on Becks, giving a nervous shrug.

"W-well he did do those recruitment a-"

"I'm telling you guys- it's aliens."

"It's not Aliens." The dad sighed, head shaking in faint irritation.

The girl shifted closer to the younger brother, brow raising challengingly at the dad.

"Well what do you think it is?"

"A sign from god..."

She snorted, head shaking, jerking her thumb towards the younger brother.

"Think Kasey's closer with the Aliens."

"Manners Blake. A sign...like an angel?" The mom admonished waving distractedly back at the girl, gaze shifting over to the dad momentarily before shifting back to Becks gaze now more curious then frightened.

The older brother blinked in confusion, glancing between his parents before shifting back to Becks.

"Angels? Angels have tentacles? Thought they were hot dollies with wings?"

The girl-Blake apparently- huffed out a faint laugh, casting a sly glance towards the older brother, subtly nudging Kasey, shrugging.

"An angel designed by H.P. Lovecraft?"

The older brother started.

"That creepy freak who made the weird satanic stories they warned about in Sunday school? Wouldn't that be a demon?" He pales, looking around worriedly.

"Oh my god! Are we in hell?"

The dad started, chancing taking his eyes off the odd light to cast quick glares at the older son and Blake.

"It's not a demon! This is not hell. Demon's don't listen to Elvis!"

Blake tilts her head, shrugging.

"According to pastor Anders they do-"

"Blake!"The mom snaps, flashing an irritated look.

The dad glared, waving her off, casting a somewhat unsure look back at Becks, shifting closer to the others, shaking his head.

"It's NOT a demon and we're not in hell. There are birds; there are no birds in hell."

"Maybe it's hell for people with ornithophobia?" Blake smirked, casting a subtle wink at Kasey.

The brother blinked rapidly, head tilting in confusion.

"Orni-wha?"

"Fear of birds." The younger brother mumbled distractedly, setting up, trying to get a better look at Becks.

The older brother swallowed, head shaking in confusion.

"But none of us are afraid of birds so why-"

Blake shrugged carelessly, clearly just screwing with the guy at this point.

"Wrong turn in purgatory? Probably supposed to turn at the McDonalds by the second exit just before that weird purple lightning ball and the three headed dog."

Kasey snorted, flashing a faint smile her way, nudging her, the mom casting a semi chiding glare into the backseat, brow raising.

"Enough Blake. Time and place."

Blake scoffed, waving.

"Sorry Aunt Millie but Time and Place don't really apply here. We have no clue where we are- we have no clue WHEN we are here! It was dark and then there was a weird flash and a bunch of crazy disorienting things and it felt like we were gonna turn inside out and then we were on a totally deserted island covered in flocks of squawking blue footed sky rats and it was the middle of the day. This is total madness. If you can't laugh in the face of madness when can you laugh?

I mean our choices here are we're abducted by aliens and now in some crazy weird Alien zoo swarming with pissed off birds and a weird ass flying squid zookeeper or we're in an equally crazy purgatory/hell filled with angry birds and a flying squid demon with killer taste in music. These are NOT good options.

If this is some kind of hell-"

"It's NOT HELL! We are not in hell! We haven't taken a wrong turn into damnation. We don't have a demon flying over our car! Stop it both of you! You'll scare your mother!"

Kasey groaned, hopping up in his seat, gesturing animatedly at Becks.

"Dad's right but also wrong. I told you it's Aliens! It HAS to be aliens! I've been saying aliens since we got here! With the crazy shimmering whatever appearing and teleportation and now a weird flying squid playing Elvis! It's Aliens!"

The older brother scoffed, glaring faintly.

"You always say Aliens."

He sputtered, eyes wide, nodding like a bobblehead, gesturing animatedly.

"Yeah! Cause one day it's gonna be! And today is that day!"

"It's not aliens!"

Blake huffed, glancing over at the older brother.

"So you're actually ROOTING for the hell/demon thing?"

"WHAT?! No! I'm not rooting for demons. Who roots for demons!? But it's less crazy than aliens!"

"It is not!"

"Yeah I'm with Kasey- it's really not."

He sneered, rolling his eyes, waving her off.

"Oh of course you're with Kasey! You always stick together. Think you do it just to ruffle everyone else's feathers."

She shrugged unconcerned, giving a careless wave.

"No I do it because he's smarter than you'll ever be. I do like that it pisses you off but that's really just a delightful bonus."

The dad set up, steadying himself, shaking his head.

"It's not demons and it's not Aliens."

Blake snorted.

"Well it sure as hell ain't Angels."

He whipped around, glaring at her, waving.

"Well what do you think it is? You really think it's something straight out of one of Kasey's stupid little sci-fi stories?"

She shrugged.

"It could b-"

"No it couldn-"

"Actually it's pretty much exactly like something out of science fiction. You guys ever read The Time Machine by H. ?"

The five start at the voice from above, freezing, looking at each other to see if they all heard it before slowly as one looking back up at Becks.

"T-the wha-"

Kasey perked up, bouncing eagerly, flashing a bright, beaming smile, waving animatedly at Becks.

"Ooh! Oh! Yeah I have! It's killer! It has that guy who builds the machine to travel through time a-" he trailed off, freezing, eyes going wide.

"Oh...woah...oh man...Man oh man!" He gasped bouncing excitedly, looking over the others in amazement before shifting back to Becks.

"Is that what happened?! Did we travel through time!? Oh! We did! That's why it's light now yeah? I thought it was like a missing time type UFO abduction thing but it's that! Oh man that's wil-"

"How dumb are you?" the older brother scoffed, rolling his eyes.

The dad started, shaking his head, turning in his seat to glare back at the teenager.

"Kasey? Stop it. I've told you about this. Don't be ridiculous."

"W-well that's what happened in the book." Kasey mumbled, shifting, giving a slight shrug, visibly deflating.

The brother scoffed again, near sneering, giving the poor teenager a hopelessly condescending, thoroughly obnoxious look.

"Well it doesn't happen in real life twit."

"Don't call him tha-" Blake begins.

The older boy snorts, waving.

"Why not? He's acting like one. Talking about aliens and time travel and all this stupid fake crap. If he doesn't get a handle on it he'll be getting called a lot worse."

Blake huffed, flashing a faintly challenging fake smile.

"Oh I can think of plenty of names for you Dic-"

"Blake!"

She huffed, shrugging.

"What? Aunt Millie, it's your fault! You're the one who named him."

The brother glared, shaking his head.

"That's not my name! It's Richie!"

Blake shrugged unconcerned.

"Short version..." She smirked, gaze shifting over him in a thoroughly unimpressed blatantly mocking kind of way.

"From what Alice said that's definitely the right version."

"Blake!"

Beside her the younger brother snickered, flashing a grateful smile her way, the mom gasping, glaring, Richie sputtering. The dad sighs somewhat exasperatedly, waving her off.

"Young lady don't talk to him like that, and Kasey you should know better by now. You're nearly an adult. You should have outgrown these childish things a long time ago. These things aren't normal, they're just not. None of it is. It's embarrassing. You need to grow up a-"

"Actually? Kasey there is right on the money." Alec interrupted, voice sharp and clipped.

"Good job Kasey- you're really quick. That'll help a lot here. Can I ask where exactly you and your family are from? Maybe the exact date and time you left?" he smiled, the tone sounding encouraging and supportive.

Kasey swallowed, shifting, clearly surprised by being addressed, glancing at the others, pausing on Blake before shifting back over to Becks, giving a hesitant nod.

"Um. Yes sir...B-Burbank California. We were driving back home from my brother's football game on Friday night-uh t-the 5th of September 1958. It was a bit before nine when we left campus."

Alec smiled, nodding.

"That's really helpful, thank you Kasey." He smiled once more before taking a deep breath, voice shifting back to the self-assured military captain voice, sharp, strong and all business.

"The blinding light you saw was a literal hole in the very fabric of time. You left a Friday night football game in Burbank at 9PM in 1958 on the 5th of September and ended up stranded in The Channel Island national park and nature preserve arriving at 11:55AM on Monday March 12, 2150."

The group collectively froze. None of them knowing how exactly to respond to this. Blake still looked suspicious, Kasey looked thrown but excited, the mom looked frightened and unsure and the older brother just looked confused- though Simon was beginning to think that was kind of his default expression. The dad finally seemed to snap out of his stupor, blinking, head shaking in disbelief, giving a faint half laugh, head shaking again.

"N-no we're not. There's no way."

"Yeah there is- it's amazing what's possible in the 22nd century."

"The 22nd century..."the mom breathed, swallowing, looking in concern over her family before shifting back up to Becks.

"I-t-this has to be some kind of mistake."

Alec sighed, softening faintly, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid it isn't Ma'am."

Blake faltered before taking a deep breath, setting up straighter, shaking her head, brow quirking.

"And why should we just take the word of some random voice? We don't even know your name. How do we know you're not lying?"

Alec blinked in surprise, smiling approvingly at the spunk of the girl, just managing to cover a chuckle.

"You shouldn't- least not without proof. Trust but verify- always. I'm Captain Lightwood. I'm with my team. There's four of us altogether. Me, our chief medical officer, my head of security and our resident scientist; the person who made Becks- the flying robosquid I'm talking to you through. We work with a company called Oasis. We study the rifts- the holes in time like the one that brought you here.

We have proof what we're saying is true that you can verify with your own eyes. We have Becks and our team and our equipment to gather the data from the anomaly and our transport. We have plenty of ways to prove to you what we are saying is the truth. I know it seems impossible but well...most of the people I work with see that word as less a limit and more a challenge. In truth I'm starting to see it the same way.

Thinking before this is over you may as well.

We're actually on the island now, right behind that rock formation running into the scrub about ten yards from you, along the west side of the beach. We're gonna come out so we can talk face to face. I think it'll help ease your concerns- well...at least as much as they can be eased in this situation."

The dad sat forward, looking over at the ridge in alarm.

"You're here? There? Now? Right next to us. Wh-"

Alec sighed, shaking his head, holding his hand up placatingly.

"We have a transport, we landed up at the top of the ridge, it was the best place. And it's not what you're thinking. We weren't trying to get the drop on you, we just knew you were already likely confused and frightened and we figured a strange, near thirty foot UFO dropping out of the sky and landing on the beach right in front of you would be even more unnecessary stress.

We weren't being underhanded, we were trying to be considerate and make this as non-traumatic as possible."

Kasey perked up, eyes wide.

"A UFO?! So alien-"

Alec couldn't help a faint chuckle.

"Sorry Kasey, no aliens-"

"Least not that we know of..." Simon muttered before freezing, sheepishly glancing over at Alec.

"Uh- sor-"

Alec chuckled, waving him off, smiling.

"Right- not that we know of as of yet in any case. But there are new discoveries every day and it would seem that anything's possible. In any case we're not aliens, and we don't work with aliens...though flat out gonna tell you some of the people at Oasis may make you second guess that...or third.

Far as I know we're all humans. Just two centuries into your future. We work at a facility that monitors and manages the openings- called rifts. The bad news is this one closed but the good is it's a type that actually reopens so we will be able to get you back to your own time. We will be able to send you back, but the thing of it is we're the only one's who'll be able to do it.

The rifts aren't public knowledge and we're the only ones who have a procedure for this sort of thing. We're gonna take you all back to our facility where we can answer all your questions, check you for injuries and get you settled until the anomaly reopens and we can send you back."

The dad starts, shaking his head.

"You expect us to just-"

Alec sighed, head tilting concedingly.

"Look...Mr...?"

"Alden. Walter Aldean."

Alec nodded.

"Okay, thank you. Mr. Aldean- can I call you Walter?"

He hesitated a moment, giving a slightly suspicious nod. Alec nodded back, smiling, relaxing faintly.

"Okay good start. Walter, I understand where you're coming from- I really do. You're the patriarch, the protector of the family. Your only goal is to keep your family safe, to keep them protected, right?"

He hesitated a moment before again nodding. And yet again Alec nodded back (Simon didn't know why he kept doing this- they couldn't see them, they were still just communicating through Becks speaker function but it seemed to be working so he wasn't about to question it.)

"Alright- that's all we want to do too. That is our only goal here. To keep you safe, keep you protected and make sure you are able to go back home and pick back up with your lives. We're on the same page here, right?"

Walter swallowed, relaxing just the slightest bit, once again nodding, head tilting curiously.

"You have a lot of practice at this, don't you?"

Alec huffed out a faint laugh, shrugging.

"I have a lot of practice at a lot of things. However I do specifically have extensive training for hostage negations and de-escalation techniques. The skills tend to be pretty universal and come in handy quite a bit." He chuckled again, relaxing more, taking a deep breath, beginning again.

"Look Walter, I know this is a lot to process. I know everything that truly matters to you is in that car and you're afraid you're gonna miss something and put them in danger. I get that, and you have every right to be suspicious here. I'm a total stranger babbling at you through a speaker from a flying robosquid telling you some fantastical story about time travel.

I get that it's completely mad. But as hard as it is to believe it IS the god's honest truth. It is. I know everything in you is telling you not to just blindly trust and I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to give me the benefit of the doubt and let me- let us- let my team- help you keep your family safe and get you back home.

We all want the same thing here. But in order to get it you're gonna have to suspend your disbelief and give us just the tiniest bit of the benefit of the doubt. I realize how hard that is and how much you have on the line here but we need you guys to come with us.

We want to send you back home as soon as possible but the rifts are a naturally occurring phenomenon. We have no control over when they open. We do know this one will be reopening but until we run tests and get our data we won't know when exactly that will happen. It could be as little as a matter of hours or it could be as long as a month or more.

I know you can think of plenty of reasons not to trust us but you honestly don't have much of a choice here. I'm sorry but just staying here and waiting it out is simply not an option. There's no food, very little drinkable water and no shelter. We cannot just leave you here and this nature preserve is restricted this time of year. The longer you're here the more likely you are to be discovered by someone besides us. If that happens this entire mission goes south real fast.

The rifts aren't known to the public...they're not really known to anyone. Just the people at Oasis. To most everyone living in the year 2150 time travel seems just as crazy and farfetched as it does to people from your time. If someone else who isn't in the know finds you they're gonna take you in for questioning and they're not going to believe that you're from the 1950's. They'll either think you're insane, drunk or running some kind of scam. If that happens you're out of our jurisdiction and you're out any hope to get back to your time.

I know how harsh that sounds but that's just the way it is. We want to help you but we're not gonna be busting into some secured facility, police station or mental ward to break you out. If you fall out of our jurisdiction that's it, we can't help you.

That's not an outcome any of us want, right?" He paused, sharp gaze shifting over the rest of the family before settling back on Walter.

Walter swallowed, paling faintly, shaking his head. Alec sighed, giving a sharp nod, a slight, curious smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Good. Then we're in agreement. You'll give us the benefit of the doubt, cooperate with us and come with us to our facility so we can keep you safe and secure until you can go back to your own time. Right? "

Walter took a deep breath, steadying himself, giving a faint nod.

"Right."

Alec breathed a sigh of relief, nodding.

"Okay good. I know you have suspicions, and I completely understand why. We mean you no harm; we're just trying to keep everyone safe. This is not a combative mission; it's a mission of mercy."

Walter blinked, something in the line clicking for him, head tilting.

"You're military, aren't you?"

Alec smirked, clearly exactly the question he was going for.

"Ex- went into the private sector for this job. You?"

Walter gave a faint, almost smile, nodding.

"Yes. Did two tours, then went to the private sector as well. Pays a lot better and there's far less stress."

Alec snorted, shaking his head.

"Speak for yourself. Thought I was taking a cushy, laid back corporate job. First day, nearly in the first HOUR I end up jumping through a hole in time- which I didn't even know was a thing- to the cretaceous, both running from and running AT a T-rex and then very much running FROM something that could have eaten the T-rex for breakfast. It was a hell of a learning curve." He chuckled, shrugging, giving a conceding wave.

"Admittedly the pay and benefits ARE pretty out of the world but with the crazy involved they'd pretty much have to be." He smiled, taking a deep breath.

"Look Walter, believe me I get how crazy this all sounds...I really do. And I know the idea of having to put not only your life but those of your entire family in the hands of a group of total strangers and being loaded into what I'm gonna tell you flat out will seem like a space ship straight out of a sci-fi comic book and taken to what is likely the single most bizarre company even in this time is asking a lot.

It's huge and it's insane and I know there's still those instincts in your head saying you can't do this, that it's not real, it's not safe, that there has to be another option...but...I'm sorry Walter, there isn't. You're gonna need to trust me- trust us. Let us do our job. Let us keep you- all of you- safe and let us get you back home.

I know you're gonna have questions and I know you're gonna have doubts. I'm gonna tell you flat out, my team isn't gonna be what you're expecting. Our people aren't gonna be what you're expecting. You're gonna have doubts about putting your fate in the hands of these loonies- I did. For the first half of my first day I was convinced I'd somehow wandered into a psych ward and been drugged with something to experience the delusions of the patients...which honestly seemed a lot less farfetched then Time traveling Dinosaurs.

These people seem totally insane-and...Well...that's cause they kinda are. They're weird and eccentric and honestly some of them will make Kasey's Alien theory seem like one of the most plausible options. There's what can only be described as a mad scientist as our irritatingly brave, mind-numbingly reckless, way too damn fearless leader/head scientist, an antiquarian with a full-on chicken vendetta, an endearingly hyperactive genius and their fashion critical robosquid sidekick who bicker like an old married couple and I am 99.9% sure my boss is just an eye patch and a dramatic origin story away from being a fully-fledged supervillain-

I'd say a shark tank and death rays away but they actually already have multiple versions of both of those…so…yeah..." Alec chuckled, shaking his head, shrugging faintly at Walter's expression- it's somewhere between alarmed and amused.

"Umm..." Walter trailed off, not really sure where to go with that, shifting, hesitantly holding up a finger.

Alec chuckled, shrugging, holding his hand up placatingly.

"Yeah 'umm' pretty much sums it up. It is insane...totally insane. But the thing of it is it takes a very unique, very peculiar type of person to be able to tackle the kinds of challenges these people do and to come up with the amazing breakthroughs they come up with every day. It takes genius and imagination and skill and eccentricity and recklessness and yeah sometimes total insanity.

The people at Oasis may not be anything like what you're expecting but they are some of the best minds in their respective fields. Oasis only hires the best of the best. If they're working for us they have proven that they can handle anything our world and everything else can throw at them. They prove it every week, every day, sometimes multiple times a day. They have faced things that you would never even begin to imagine, things that make what most people see as impossible seem downright mundane.

They may be a lot and they may be unorthodox but make no mistake this is a team totally unparalleled. When you're facing things that seem totally insane you need your own brand of crazy to match; only way you keep up.

We most definitely have our very own brand of crazy." he huffed out another faint laugh, shaking his head, glancing around the other three, catching each of their eyes, lingering pointedly, brow quirking teasingly in amusement before shifting his attention back to the group on screen, faintly sobering.

"Look Walter; I know you're gonna have doubts, that you'll have concerns- I am going to tell you flat out you will feel like there is no way in hell this group can handle this but they handle this exact same kind of thing every day.

They are the only ones who can. I promise if you just put your preconceptions aside, take a beat, cooperate and let us all do our job we will keep your family safe and get you back home.

I give you my word so long as you cooperate and give us the benefit of the doubt we will get you home. I give you my word. I know in your time a man's word meant something. It still does, that's one thing that hasn't changed. I give you my word and you can bet I'll keep it. Thinking it's something we have in common. Least that's the read I got.

Guess I could've read you wrong. Don't think I did though. You're not the type to go back on your word, are you Walter?"

Walter starts, looking near offended.

"Wha-of course not! I'm not some low down, dirty, two bit shyster fink. A man's only as good as his word. He breaks that he doesn't have a leg to stand on. A man give's his word he damn well keeps it. I sure as hell do. I give you my word it's good as a contract- anyone who knows me would tell you the same thing."

Alec smiled, nodding, a curious spark lighting his oddly pale, hazely green eyes.

"Good...that's exactly what I was thinking. You seemed like a good, honest, upstanding man. I believe I can take you at your word. If you give me your word you'll cooperate with us, let us do our jobs, give us the benefit of the doubt and give all the members of our team the consideration and respect they deserve I really think we can work through this and get you all right back where you belong.

Will you give me your word you'll do that Walter?"

Walter took a deep breath, giving a quick, sharp, confident nod.

"Yes, Captain Lightwood. You have my word."

Alec smirked, oddly light hazely green eyes sparking with a curiously amused little light, nodding, clearly exactly the outcome he was hoping for.

"Thank you Walter; I will be holding you to that."

Walter faltered faintly at this, shifting.

"Wha-"

Alec chuckled, waving him off.

"Oh nothing, you're a man of your word, exactly like I thought you would be. You gave me your word and you said yourself only a low down, dirty, two bit shyster fink would break their word...and we've already established that's not you. Seems like we're all good here. That's quite a relief; it'll definitely make things much easier going forward.

Speaking of we really do need to be moving this show along. We've already been here far longer than I wanted. We're gonna come out now so we can get this show on the road and our scientist can do their thing and get a line on when we'll be able to get you back home. Alright?"

He hesitated, a flicker of doubt in his dark green eyes, clearly feeling like he missed something there but not sure what. Walter swallows, glancing nervously around at his family before shifting his focus once more to Becks, taking a deep breath, giving a slow, somewhat unsure nod.

"Alright."

Alec sighed, just managing to muffle a faint chuckle, moving into position, the four finally moving out of their hiding space. They circle the ridge, approaching the car. Alec's on Simon's left, Dani on his right, Bindy next to her. As they approach the family exits the car, Simon catches the shift in their expressions as they really get a look at their rescuers.

Blake blinks in surprise, gaze shifting curiously over the group, lingering on Bindy and Dani, bright silvery blue eyes sparking, brow quirking. A somewhat wry smile tugs at her lips as she casts a subtle glance over at Walter and Richie, clearly all caught up and waiting for the fireworks. Kasey looks like he's not quite sure what's going on but is kind of very much eager to find out. The mom looks surprised but there's a bit of a flicker of curiosity in her hazely blue eyes.

On the other hand the father and Richie just look thoroughly confused, glancing over the group, gaze landing on Alec, holding up a finger, head shaking faintly.

"I-what is...I thought you said you had a doctor, a scientist and your chief security officer with you?"

Alec quirked his eyebrow shrugging, gesturing towards the others.

"Yup...Doctor Dani Lightwood; my sister and one of the most well respected medical minds in the country, Simon Lewis; our newest recruit, the scientist who designed and created Becks the flying, snarking robosquid and our chief of security Bindy Yakira...pretty sure the less I know about her qualifications the happier I'll be."

"Got that right Boyscout." Bindy murmured, a soft, low chuckle slipping out, flashing a teasing wink and a worrying little smirk towards Walter and the older son.

Walter's brows rose nearly clear to his hairline, sputtering faintly, subconsciously taking a step back, again shaking his head, seemingly stuck in a loop of confusion and denial. Kasey looked totally shocked, but in the absolutely best possible way, a bright, eager smile of total wonder blooming. Blake almost managed to muffle a snicker, eyes bright and eager, trained on Walter and Richie, clearly eating this up. Beside his dad Richie gave a disbelieving laugh, looking at Alec like he bumped his head, gesturing towards Dani and Bindy.

"But they're girls?"

Bindy snorted, brow quirking.

"Wow nothing gets by you slick."

Alec smirked, shifting forward, standing up to his full height, a few inches taller than Walter, reaching forward, catching his hand in a strong, firm, confident handshake, jostling him out of his stupor.

"Hey Walter; good to finally meet you face to face. Captain Alec Lightwood, Alec's fine. We don't really stand on formality too much. As I said I'm sure our group isn't what you were expecting but I do SO appreciate you giving me your word that you'll cooperate and give all the members of our team the consideration and respect they deserve. It's really gonna streamline things.

Thanks again."

Walter huffed, head shaking, glaring, sputtering.

"I b-but...that...that doesn't make sense-it's impossible."

Alec folded his arms, a challenging smirk tugging at his lips, giving a somewhat careless shrug and near brazen eyebrow quirk.

"As I said- Impossible isn't a limit, it's a challenge. Welcome to the world of tomorrow.

Let's get started shall we?"

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*****End Of Chapter Notes*****

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Oh my god this damn chapter is finally done! Took for freaking EVER!

So sorry for the long stretch between updates (Been nearly 2 weeks). I've been fighting with this chapter for that long. It just did not want to go. I think I started 3-4 different times on this one before scrapping what I have and starting over and it ended up kinda totally different from what I actually planned but I really do love how it turned out. All said and done it ended up over 12k words but counting the rewrites I know I've written over 20k just for this damn chapter. Even so I think it was worth it. I love Sneaky Alec, tricking the dad into giving his word to kinda cut him off from putting up too much of a fight when he REALLY meets the team lol.

I kind of really like having Blake as Kasey's cousin, think it'll work out well. I know it might seem kind of like the two just don't fit with the 50's family but...well...that's kinda the whole point. And yeah I could have went with a more period correct Blake but I kinda think Tomboys just kinda work for all eras lol. I really like coming up with the different backgrounds for the supporting characters in all the verses, kinda gives me a chance to explore and play. It's just a lot of fun- it's a lot of balancing, and sometimes headaches and a WHOLE lot of color coding to keep everything straight but all in all I really do think it's worth it and I really love how all the verses are developing (sorry for it taking so long but I'm incapable of writing anything short and I'd rather take my time and end up with chapters that really work than just toss something out to fill space and end up regretting it later.- these stories are definitely a marathon not a sprint lol.)

I planned on having a lot more with the team interacting with the family but it just didn't work out that way and this is far better than what I'd originally planned so I'm happy with it.

MORE good news this was the LAST story I needed to get over the official halfway point (through Ch6) so now I can start cycling through again.

Here's the current update list:

A Study In Chaos (Verse 6)

You Can't Go Home Again (Verse 1)

Picture Perfect (Verse 8)

Love Bug (Verse 2)

Death Was Just The Beginning (Verse 3)

Nosey Neighbors (Verse 9)

The Guy/Demon In The Mirror (Verse 4)

A Start Of Something New (Verse 7)

Next one up is V2 Love Bug- this one's been waiting for a while. I got to it on my original update list and then I realized just how far ahead some of the stories were pulling from the others so I wanted to play a bit of catch up so one or two chapters ahead as opposed to 3-4...doesn't seem like that big of a difference but it feels like it is to me. It's actually been waiting through three OTHER updates that kinda jumped ahead so I'm really looking forward to doing that one. We have Xanic Fluffies and a bug hunt. Should be a lot of fun.

So what do you guys think so far?

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{ *^*^*^ *^*^*^*^*^*^*]8*- Future Fallout Verse*-8 [ *^*^*^ *^*^*^*^*^*^*}