[Fiction] Taking Stock

[Timeslip]

(continued from The Chase )

Timeslip led Procyon, her ebony hand still holding his glowing own, up through the shimmering portal... and rose into the main room of her home in Japan. The unlikely hole in the floor closed behind the pair, and she lightly touched down to the polished wood floor.

Only a moment later did she realize that she was still clutching the hand of the self-declared sun god - a situation that she corrected with haste and an unseen blush.

Wordlessly, she motioned him to a sitting cushion, and took one of her own. Only after another moment and a deep sigh did she look up at the controversial Terat and say, "I'm not going to be able to stay here, am I?"

[GDP_ST]

He glanced at Timeslip curiously as she extricated her (surprisingly) warm, soft hand from his and sat down almost too-hastily, with a slight quiver of embarassment and something else evident in her emotional state. So, she IS flesh and blood. The Sun King mused, his own hand flexing softly, remembering how her skin had felt. Can't tell from the skin tone, of course, but that felt like a blush to me... He suppressed the urge to grin. Behave. He admonished himself as the shapely starfield asked her question in a tone that left little doubt that it was rhetorical. He sank down onto the proffered cushion, azure gaze distant as he considered the situation.

Timeslip had killed a Tomorrowite. Self-defense or not, fear for her life or not, Utopia would try to hunt her down and bring her to their version of justice. Procyon knew all too well that if they were successful in arresting her, Timeslip would be sent to Bahrain. The very thought made the glowing nova clench his fists, coruscating aura brightening for a moment, his rage whining and pawing at it's chains as he recalled what he had seen there. No. He would not be able to stomach any member of the One Race going into that human-made hell.

Forcing himself to relax, Procyon stilled himself and considered, his brain moving at inhuman speed. After a couple of seconds, he turned to face Timeslip, the cerulean shimmer of his eyes piercing her soul. "If you stay, you will be a fugitive." he began, the thrumming resonance of his voice soft. "Not an impossible life to lead, but difficult."

"On the other hand, if you leave, the reason you killed that nova will be meaningless. You fight for the freedom and self-determination of the One Race. Turn your back on that now, and you might well have never bothered." His expression was sober, his voice quietly intense. "If you want my opinion, I would try to find a way to stick it out before abandoning all for which I had striven."

[Timeslip]

Timeslip sighed. Her arm still hurt a bit, but the pain was letting up, and the red nebula amid the stars was no longer growing in size.

"You're right, of course, and there are ample safe-houses for me in the movement. Still, I think a quick trip elsewhere may be in order, just to throw the hounds off of the scent; it has been my experience that none of our interesting little methods of keeping tabs on someone survive the jump to another temporal stream."

Reaching out with her uninjured arm, Timeslip picked up a decorative box on a low table. Opening it, she extracted a small pouch, which was promptly deposited in a eufiber pocket. Noting Procyon's gaze, she explained, "It wouldn't be good for me to leave without a good supply. Unfortunate side-effect of the manner of my eruption; I need LSD to survive." There was no shame in her voice, though a slight tinge of annoyance could be detected.

"Don't worry; I won't give up the fight. I'll only be cross-time long enough to fly to the location of a safe-house."

[Long]

A pair of small voices came from the doorway in unison. "Aunt Timeslip!" the two children rushed into the room and over to their Aunt. Misato looked at her injured arm and frowned. "You've been hurt. Are you going to be ok?"

In an uncharacteristic turn of events Benkei was oddly silent for a moment. Finally he found his voice. "You're leaving aren't you? Did Uncle Ryu do something wrong, did we do something wrong?"

The two children both look up to her face for her answer and only the does Misato turn to the seated Procyon. "Hello.." recognition passed through her eyes and then "...you're the man from the tv, the one who talked about us and the baselines living together."

From each of them Procyon could feel a small trickle of quantum, and the presence of a node. Indeed, they were both novas.

[Timeslip]

Despite herself, a lump came to Timeslip's throat at the arrival of the two young novas. This is going to be harder than I thought.

"Yes, Misato, I'm going to be OK, and no, Benkei, neither you nor Uncle Ryu have done anything wrong. It's just that I did something today that people will not understand. I had to hurt someone who was going to hurt me, and I hurt that person very badly. Because of that, I need to go away for a while."

Misato commented about their unexpected guest, and Timeslip made the necessary introductions. "Yes, Misato, this is Procyon. Procyon, this is Misato and Benkei, niece and nephew to Long and children of the One Race."

[GDP_ST]

Procyon smiled at the children, fascinated by the slight quantum energies which danced around the girl and her brother. He had seen nova children before, but it was one sight he never tired of. They were potential made manifest: the epitome of what was best about children of any species.

"I am at your service, young lady and sir. And I am glad my words were heard by you." The softly glowing man replied in flawless Japanese as he stood. He placed a hand over his heart and bowed to the children, head lowered, before straightening up and smiling once more as he retook his seat. "Your aunt is a brave woman. But sometimes being brave means that people won't like you very much. Today was such a day for your aunt." His voice was softly resonant as he spoke gently to the children.

He redirected his azure gaze to Timeslip, cocking one eyebrow questioningly as a faint smile tugged at one corner of his beautiful mouth. "Auntie Timeslip?" he asked the ominous-seeming starry nova, plainly both delighted and amused, though he hid it well.

[Long]

Long appeared in the room ina flash of blue light just behind The chair he normally sat in. "Welcome to our home Procyon." He looked down to the Children, whose eyes grew large in suprise at their uncle's sudden appearance. "I see you have met the children." He takes his seat and looks over to Timeslip.

"I have the footage, both of Excavator charging the attack and then the previous use of it. It's easy enough to call it self-defense but it will never stand in court. To the world you reacted with overwhelming force against a member of Team Tomorrow who was possibly preparing to take you down. At least that's what the populace will be told."

He lets out a sigh and closes his eyes. when they reopen they seem a shade darker, but they no longer glow. "That said the others that were there are safe and accounted for. No further dead novas, at least those are the last numbers I heard. We can be thankful for that much at least."

The children seemed torn between the three elder novas in the room. Th glowing Procyon, their Aunt made of the fabric of space itself, and their uncle, The family crest made flesh. Benkei stayed close to Timeslip while Misato took a seat next to Long. "Uncle..." She chosse her words carefully, "...are we going to have to move again?"

[Timeslip]

A new star formed at the corner of Timeslip's eye. It blossomed to fiery life, then ran wetly down her face to fall to the floor below, mere water by the time it struck the glistening wood.

"No, Misato, you aren't going to have to move. You and Benkei and Uncle Ryu are staying here. But I will need to go away. Today." Her voice, even through the whispery echoes, was noticibly wavering.

[Long]

Long nods knowing that this is really the only choice left. Utopia will come, and it was going to be unpleasant. "Even though she's going to leave, Misato, that doesn't mean you won't see her again. She is still my wife, she is still your adopted mother."

Long's words are calm and as soothing as he can manage. Despite that he can see the young girl's resolve breaking. He reached out and pulled her to him, carefully wiping away the tears forming in her eyes. The thought of having a mother was one she'd treasured, and now she was having to say goodbye. Benkei had taken hold of one of Timeslip's hands and held it fast. "You have to promise you'll come back. You can't go if you don't." The young boy spoke with a force she'd never heard in his voice before. His eyes looked at her with an intensity well beyond his years.

Long looked over to Procyon. "I'm sorry if you feel somewhat out of place here. That isn't my intention. For what it's worth, this is not how I wished to meet you again."

[GDP_ST]

Procyon smiled faintly at Long. "It seems we rarely choose the manner of our meeting." His blue eyes still possessed their sparkle, despite the somber overcast to them.

"As for feeling out of place; well, I am simply lucky to be out of that mess and doubly lucky to meet more of your charming family." The Sun King's smile broadened slightly as he watched the two children, sympathy for Timeslip sparkling in the cerulean deeps of his gaze.

[Timeslip]

Timeslip gave Benkei's small hand a squeeze, and whispered, "I promise," to the child.

With that, she gently extracted her hand and looked back at the tiger-man and glowing god. "It's time for me to go." Standing, she moved to Long and the two embraced for a long moment; when the embrace broke, Timeslip turned to Procyon and said, "You'll need to come with me, at least for the first part of the journey. Right now, the Tomorrowites will be just as happy to send you to Bahrain as they would me." She extended a slender cosmic hand to the Bringer of Light.

[z-Gu Saori]

Saori huddled in the hallway closet, her shaking hands making the small screen on her OpNet device waver. But she doesn't need to see it again - she's watched it twice already.

Her sister-in-law had killed.

Fear collected in her gut, and the Loong responded. Instinctively, she lurched out of the closet, aware that she's making too much noise. Her slippered feet pound on the wooden floor as she slid the rice paper door open and stumbled into the garden. The ground soaked into her silk slippers, but she doesn't feel it. All she can feel is the Loong stretching in her body.

Between one step and the next, slippered shoes ripped away before golden scales and clawed toes slammed into the garden path. The delicate wrists and ankles thickened, the limbs and torso lengthened as golden scale covered everything.

The golden Loong stood awkwardly in the garden, stretching a little over twenty feet from nose to tail. But when she saw Timeslip in the doorway, looking at her, the mighty dragon leapt into the air and arced away in a rush of wind.

[Timeslip]

The noise in the hall had torn Timeslip's attention away from Procyon. Saori. Long's sister had been listening... and now was running. Without a word, the woman-cosmos moved with an impossible grace and speed down the hallway - then, she stopped cold. Saori - if it was Saori - was coiling a massive body of gold that made Procyon almost pale in comparison.

As she watched, feeling more than hearing the others pull up short behind her to watch as well, the dragon took flight away from the garden, the estate, and the tangle of trouble that lay in store for the last remnant of the Hideyoshi family.

Without moving, Timeslip found her words once more. "I think she may have the right idea. It is time for us all to go." As she spoke, the starry black cloak poured forth from her, as though her skin was reaching outward. A moment later, the cloak vanished... and with it, so did all present.

[Long]

"Dammit!" it was the only word Long could utter as Saori fled and Timeslip enveloped him in her crosstemporal bubble. When they reached their destination he looked tot he children who were simply in awe of what just happened. Then he took in his surroundings. It was all completely unfamiliar. "Timeslip where are we?"

Even as he spoke he gathered the children to him, each one to a side and his eyes began to glow. Somethingin his mind just screamed that something was off, putting him immediately into a defensive mode.

[Timeslip]

"It's another world I use on occasion, Long. Don't worry; there's nobody around for a few hundred miles. World War Three happened here about sixty years ago, and Japan was hit hard. This is strictly a transport world."

She looked to her four companions as they stared at the world around them. It seemed almost as though it was a light jungle of some sort... until one noticed the broken and charred remnants of a foundation, thickly covered by the underbrush.

"Simply put, it's not enough for just me to stay away from familiar ground right now. Think about it: Procyon, you were seen leaving the scene with me; Long, your quantum signature was all over that warp gate. The Tomorrowites are going to consider you both accessories to my action. I should have thought of it before, but it took Saori's rather remarkable flight to bring it home for me.

"So, the plan now is that we travel over here to the site of a safehouse back in our temporal stream, at which point we can step back across. We should get moving; we can talk about what to do from there on the way."

[GDP_ST]

He stood motionless for a long moment, his azure eyes wide in shock as Timeslip's whispery voice told them all where they were. He looked around, trying to find the familiar in their location, to deny the evidence. But superhuman senses don't lie, and for the first time since his Chrysalis, Procyon felt unsure of himself at the deepest level. He was alien to this place, truly alien, and it disturbed him.

He fought off the sudden sensation of isolation and focused on the discussion at hand, nodding in belated agreement with Timeslip. "The Tomorrowites will be buzzing around like hornets looking for someone to sting, that's for certain. Once they calm down and realise from debriefing the others there that I was trying to defuse matters, they'll grudgingly drop the case where I'm concerned."

The swirl of his coruscating solar aura was almost hypnotic as he glanced at Timeslip and Long, his expression curious.

"So which safehouse will we be using?"

[Timeslip]

"So which safehouse will we be using?"

It was a damned good question. And after a moment looking at the small group, Timeslip had what she hoped would be a damned good answer.

"Long, if you would be so kind, please open a portal to the location of the Blackburn."

[Long]

Long conetrates for a moment and nods as a warpgate opens to where the Blackburn once stood.

"There we are, one warpgate made to order, Any other requests?"

[Timeslip]

"Just two, love. First, when we step across into the Blackburn, don't make any sudden movements. That goes for you too as well," she said past him to the twins. "There's a lot of NV there, but a lot of others, too... and frankly, if we can keep from inciting a fight, that will suit me just fine.

"Second..." Timeslip leaned in close to her husband, stretching on tiptoes to plant a long kiss on his muzzle "...I want you to take good care of yourself and the children. And of Saori, if she comes back and if she can be trusted; I have my doubts about whether or not she can cope with all of this properly."

There being nothing more to say, the five stepped from one bombed-out ruin to another.

The Blackburn Hotel stood here - in both worlds - since the early days of the 20th century. Back home, it had suffered the Depression and the overall decline of Harlem, only to come back to life as a haven for Terats with no other place to go. Here, the once proud structure never recovered; a war to end all wars had seen to the end of the Blackburn, and the rest of New York City with it. Walls a few feet high did nothing to hide the surrounding damage.

It was obvious that the Big Apple had taken more than a single successful hit; the Russian bombers that had droned over the city in those dark days had taken their pound of flesh with a vengeance, after Britain and France had refused to withdraw from the nationalized Suez Canal in the face of Soviet promises to support Egypt, and the United States had backed her allies by dropping atomic bombs on the better portion of the Black Sea Fleet. The skeletal remains of a great city stood silent witness to the pride of mankind... and offered, perhaps, a warning of sorts to this handful of successors to that proud race.

Timeslip finally broke the uncomfortable silence by turning back to the business at hand. "OK, there's mosaic tile poking through over here; this had to be the lobby. And if so, that post would have been the corner to the back office. So we need to be right about... here."

As everyone gathered around her, the strange darkness poured forth from her once more, the cloying silence engulfing all present as she searched through the threads of time and found that bright, shining strand that called her home. The darkness fell away... and a half-dozen Terats in various stages of 'evolution' looked at them like they had just come from Mars.

The first to recover was probably the last anyone wanted to see. The horrific sack of organs and fluids lurched forward sickly, and a tongue visibly slid up to the front of its melted face before it spoke wetly. "We wondered when you would get here. Welcome to the Blackburn, Timeslip," said Sloppy Joe.

[Long]

Long's claws slid out of their sheaths instinctively. He could taste the threat in the air. He trusted few in the Teragen, and aside his wife, none of them were present. Yet still he calmed himself. There was no need to shed nova blood, yet. "It's been some time since I came here."

Sloppy Joe nodded. "You were still Shen-Kahn's enforcer back then. All work and no play." It was then through one of his eyes that currently was located in his left thigh he saw the two children. "What's this? Nova children? You furry bastard." The fur on Long's neck bristled and his ears flattened back. Sharp whie teeth were displayed for all to see when Long's mouth opened in a low growl.

The terats gathered around took a step back. Long's posture screamed danger and that he was an object to fear. In an instant it was gone. claws slid back into their sheaths and his face returned to a more neutral countenance. "You've always liked living dangerously."

Sloppy Joe laughed. "You posture but do nothing."

"This is a sanctuary, I respect the unspoken rules." Long nods and then looks to the children, who are obviously taken aback by Sloppy's gruesome visage. His eyes then turn to Timeslip. Are you sure this is where you want to stay?

[GDP_ST]

Procyon glanced around, noting the scarcely-veiled hostility directed his way as the attendant Terats studied whom Long and Timeslip had brought with them. Sloppy Joe in particular radiated hot hatred to the Sun King's acute empathic senses. The monstrous Terat couldn't really glower, but the heat was evident in his gargling voice as he turned the mush of his head towards Timeslip.

"What the fuck is HE doing here? Joe all but spat out. The other Terats shifted, some murmuring angry agreement, others keeping silent as Procyon turned to meet their scrutiny head on, a slight challenge evident in his posture and eyes. The room gradually fell silent under that steely blue gaze, and even Sloppy Joe took a step backwards as Procyon's eyes fell upon him.

"I am here because Utopia will be looking for me as an accomplice to Timeslip's action." The solar godling radiated confident calm, unfazed even by the disgusting mess that was Joe. "I also believe that unless the owner themself asks me to leave, I have as much right to be here as any of you. Like Long, I would prefer to abide by the rules of sanctuary; unless someone is foolish enough to break those rules first, of course. Then I might be forced to do something... regretable." This last was delivered with a cold, no-nonsense tone that sent a clear message to those present. The assembled Terats suddenly found more interesting matters to focus their attention on, and Sloppy Joe found his support wavering.

The murmuring fell silent, and Procyon looked at Timeslip with a small smile. "This is the first time in the Blackburn in a while for me. Sometimes people forget." He winked slyly, then smiled reassuringly at the two little ones.

[Timeslip]

"Well, I see we're all acquainted with each other, for better or for worse. Guiseppe, I can only recommend to you in the strongest possible terms that you prod neither the children nor Long at this juncture. It has been an extremely trying day for all concerned, and at this point, all we want is some small measure of peace.

"Now, that said, would one of you gentlemen," she said to the small cluster of minor nodelings that were watching this gather of luminaries with something approaching awe, "be so kind as to procure for me a room key? I know the back stairs well enough, but with current events being what they are, it would be best if I not just walk out into the lobby; you never know who will be passing by the front door."

One of the more human-looking of the gaggle made his way out of the back office, and Timeslip turned her attention back to Joe. "So, I've been a bit too busy to check the news. How bad is it?"

Whatever animosity the gruesome unfortunate may have felt toward the visitors fell away in the face of business. "It's not good," he said with a touch of native Italian underlying years of thick Manhattan accent, sitting down in a wooden chair with an audible squelch as Timeslip took a swivel chair across a card table from him. "The Uppies doctored the fuck out of the tapes. To see what they showed, it looks like you just nailed her in cold blood. Good news is that other tapes are showing, too, and you can see in 'em that she was gonna nail you first. The monkey-fuckers released a statement that's supposed to be from Pax, tacking you up as Enemy Numero Uno, but it sounded too good to be that pretty-boy; he just signed his name to it. American press is hittin' it harder than the Euro rags did, and the Collins campaign's already standing on their fuckin' soap box about how this backs up her case for nova legislation and conscription and all that shit."

The horrid thing shifted, the eye floating around its skull shifting to see his toady come back in and set a hotel key in front of the humanoid starscape before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. "Novas are split on it. If you read the shit out at N!Prime, you're either a righteous victim or a murdering monster. Mind you, if you were finally goin' the second route, it'd be welcome; you're looks have always been great for a monster...." A low growl from Long cut off that train of thought, as the sack of organs and goo quivered like a plastic bag full of the world's most noxious Jello. He swallowed, and got back on track. "Inside, most of us are behind you. Hell, the Swarm Queen says she's ready to let bygones be bygones, and I think ya' know how pissed she was about the whole Shen-Khan deal - I think she gave you sorta a 'bullet point' on that one last year." So that's who had orchestrated that particular deal, Timeslip and Long both thought as one; that it had been Harvesters behind the assassin who had tried - and nearly succeeded - in killing Timeslip the previous summer was pretty obvious from the get-go, but that the Swarm Queen was behind it... that was an unexpected bit of information; she has ties in both the Harvesters and Primacy, and that did not bode well.

"'spect you'll wanna get up to your room an' shit. You get done, all of you should head down to the Nightingale Room. Beaumont's hangin' out in there, an' she'll wanna talk to you for sure; I don't see you paying Raoul any personal housecalls anytime soon," he added with a gurgle that might have been an attempt at chuckling. It was true enough, too; the palatial home of Count Orzaiz was watched far too closely for Timeslip to risk a visit there, even if she stepped directly into his dining room as she had the last time.

[Timeslip]

Hours later, Timeslip watched her husband and the two young children she had almost come to think of as her own walk through a rip in the fabric of space through to their home... a home to which she knew she could never return. The warp closed, and - despite the presence of several fellow Terats around her - the woman who swam the currents of time felt more alone than she had at anytime in the past seven years.