Even when there's no walls or windows...

[noteasytobepink]

Who: Clarice, the Timebroker, Bill?!
When: After the end of Grant.
What: It's like coming home...when your home doesn't exist any more.

She groaned and cracked an eye open, immediately wincing at the harsh light. She was either back in the hospital or...

"Easy, Clarice, you're hurt," the Timebroker sighed, reaching back to pluck pillows out of thin air behind him. "Careful, that's a girl..." he helped prop her upright before patting her hand. "I lose you for a few years and look what happens!"

"...alien," she noted automatically, trying to breathe carefully. Time to take stock: broken ribs, she'd probably at least sprained her wrist, knee hated her, black eye...

"I already set your nose and three fingers," he offered helpfully.

...broken fingers and nose then. Headache. Thankfully no bleeding gut wounds or anything, that would have taken the wormy cake wouldn't it? "Getting soft," she chuckled carefully, licking her lips to clear away the grit of dried blood.

"No, getting lost without a proper team," he chided. "That level should have been a full team, not one crazy mutant backing up a town."

"So...why no team?" she asked, shifting to look at the short man standing beside her bed. Once upon a time a series of kitchen tiles standing alone in a desert would have been weird. Now? Now it was just where the Timebroker lived, and now there was a bed set on the tiles. How thoughtful.

"...because I can't watch everything." The Timebroker settled on a chair that hadn't been there a moment ago and held out a thermometer. Thermometers were important parts of ensuring wellness! That was what observation told him anyway. "There's more than just me out there, I'm a fixer, I meddle more than I should and I care about those that get lost. You fell...right out of my territory. A timeline and reality far past anything I can see. I knew I'd find you again if I watched for you, but the broker in that area was...less than happy."

"...I didn't go there on purpose."

"I know. You saved your team. That's what you do. She just...should have told me. She's the angry sort though. Anomalies are...discarded. So she didn't let me know one of 'MY' anomalies was wandering around in one of her worlds." He...didn't like his own kind much honestly.

"And Wheelsy?"

"Safe," he assured. "For good this time. It was a two event, one defeat, two defeats, out."

She leaned back on her pillows, letting that information trickle through her mind. Good. She didn't ask about Bill; she couldn't. His place was safe. His world was safe. It would be alright. "My team?"

"Still scraping along, you won't be up to joining them for a bit but Morph is saving a spot for you. Speaking of..." he held up a Talus unit, this one a bit more form fitting it seemed. "You lost your last one. I didn't know that was possible."

"Psycho mutant with a knife and super strength," she pointed out, holding up her left arm. That was a faint, almost hidden starburst of a scar on her forearm. The place the last had attached.

"Yes, well, this one is made for you," he assured, sliding the metal and gem sleeve on. "There, how does it feel?"

She had winced slightly when it went on, but she didn't even feel it attach like she had the last. A moment more and the metal had warmed to her skin temp, that was better. A poke revealed she could...feel through it. Huh. "A lot more user friendly," she noted. "It's like a second skin."

"I should hope so," he noted. "It took some time to work up but this one can't be taken from you, I promise. They won't even manage to cut off your arm if they tried."

"...that's reassuring," she chuckled, wincing as her ribs bit. "Don't...want to do that again." Get lost. Get involved.

"I know," he patted her cheek and looked out over the tiles until a kitchen showed up for him. "You rest. You've had a rough time, but you're safe now. We have you back. I'll get some soup going."

"Sorry to make you worry," she noted, already drifting off.

That was for the best. The soup could make itself, yes. The short little man was...pulling on a cloak suited for desert travel and going to trace down the other anomaly. He could send the man back to his own realms, but as he'd mentioned, the broker there wasn't kind to those who slipped between the cracks. If he was smart he'd just send the man away and let Clarice move on; Bill was from a world set where mutants didn't even exist after all!

But...he'd looked after Clarice. That earned him some credit in the Timebroker's book. It was a bit of a walk; being attuned Clarice had shown up where he was, but Bill? Bill had no place now so anywhere in the lost sands.

The Timebroker was good at finding things though. It wasn't long before he was nudging a sandy leg with his boot, "and what are we going to do with you?"

Comments

[noteasytobepink]

"I'm afraid not. Most her team is composed of people that are just shaken loose. A big event, they went right instead of left and suddenly they're displaced. Find the right resonance, poke the right stress points, and they can snap back home where they were intended to be. I don't know why Clarice is so different. It may be her power, it may be the fact her world was negated and most other variants of her are dead, but nothing within my reach, hundreds of thousands of realities, can hold her. She shakes loose. I can keep that act from killing her, but I can't place her in a reality." And he was honestly sorry about that.

"Plus I don't know if Clarice would accept such of her own volition. She's a leader and a hero. Layer those on soldier and I don't honestly know if she could just settle down with anyone, even if she loved them. She'd have to be active in the world, saving people because it's what she does with her life." Surely he'd seen that? Three years outside his reach and she was as dangerous as ever when she came back. Bill had to have seen it.

"As for new, well, that's harder to define. Consider your world for a moment. Next door to either of your worlds will be similar ones, your best friend is a girl instead of a boy. You have a dog instead of a cat, but very much alike. A thousand down? You wouldn't recognize the world but there would be a you there. You might be a villain, or a space pirate, or any number of things, but you're not new, you're just different and depending on how badly the YOU that you are when you arrive is from what the you in that reality should be? That creates stress and friction and will push you clear, or destroy you depending. Your world is so far from these here that Clarice never existed in them, or if she does? It's as a fictional character. A story. A book, a comic book, a movie. Something not real. That's probably what kept her alive for three years in your reality? There she was new, but she also tends to break reality rules so sooner or later the stress of existing in your world would eject or kill her." That was how it worked really.

"You don't have super powers. You don't tear holes in reality. You can be 'new' somewhere and not get a whole world angry at your existence. She can't. Even so? I can't reach a world where you both would be new and guarantee you wouldn't break it between you."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill listened to every word and they all said the same thing, it was never going to work. It had never been meant to be. He would have lost her eventually regardless, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

"I was gonna propose to her," he said, quiet, all spent out of anger. "If I hadn't been too stupid an' scared I'd of done it already."

He still had the ring in his breast pocket where he carried it, hoping to find the courage and that chance to do the thing right.

"Just like me t'fall for the girl I can't have... "

He wondered if maybe one of those other versions of himself actually managed to find someone, or if heartbreak was a constant among all of them.

"I guess to answer your question; no, it wouldn't be good for her t'know I'm here." The admission killed him to make, but it was what was what he had to do, for her.

"If she can move on she outta. I can't be the distraction that gets her killed, or another one she blames herself for losin' by dyin'."

[noteasytobepink]

"Annnnd now he slides down into defeat," he sighed, looking at the painfully bright sky. "Anger, defeat, or anger destruction, those are the most common reactions just so you know." No one every really cared to learn everything had to change.

"And if you intend to not help me think of any alternatives then yes I'll just send you along. But I'll give you a few minutes to get your brain back online."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"What the hell else am I supposed t'do?! I can't run with her, an' she can't stay with me, an' you said we can't keep here," he replied, gesturing at the dunes around them.

"This is all beyond me an' everything I know. It ain't easy admittin' I don't fit in her life here, but like hell am I gonna put her at risk by tryin' to."

[noteasytobepink]

"I would suggest thinking," he noted. "Tell me, honestly, what you are capable of, emotionally and mentally. Physically we will list in a moment."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill shook his head, not understanding the question.

"I'm a cop, a sheriff. I look after the folk in my town, however I have to. If that means talkin' a drunk down off the water tower then I'll do that. An' if it means figurin' how to stop a fuckin' slug invasion then I'll do that, too." Only this time, he didn't walk away from it.

"I do my job, best I can." Did his job. That was something else he'd left behind.

[noteasytobepink]

"Stop," he sighed. "Don't get defensive. Sit down and think. Are you the type to talk to everyone you meet or do you avoid contact? Do you prefer to see the same faces every day or can you handle strangers? I think the term in your worlds are psychological profiles? Have you had one done as you stepped up as Sheriff?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Grumbling, Bill looked around, then sighed and sat back down in the sand.

"I did, but I couldn't tell you what it said. I don't put much stock in those things." Especially not the ones made up after the first slug invasion.

"I'm always talkin' to folks, but they're mostly always the same people. We get strangers come into town once in awhile, but usually it's all the same folks." He thought about it a moment, the shrugged a shoulder. "Me an' Clarice got along alright right away, even with her crazy story an' all."

So at least he could handle some strangers?

"What's this got t'do with anything right now?"

[noteasytobepink]

"We need to decide if you are mentally capable of world hopping," he pointed out gently. "And emotionally. Generally you will be moving with a team, very few members of that team will remain the same as most will snap home after a few runs. You will meet the same people over and over who won't know you each new time you meet them in a new world. You will deal with everyone from common citizens to soldiers, to outright universe swallowing evils. You will rarely get time to rest. I try to make sure slides between worlds allow for some down time but nothing is perfect."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"We already went over this. I can't. I'd probably get myself killed day one."

For the chance to stay with Clarice he would try, if he didn't think it would end up hurting her in the end.

"I deal with all types of people, an' generally they like me." His easy going personality and amicability made dealing with people easier. When he was in control of himself and his temper, of course.

"I don't mind hard work. I've put in my share of it."

[noteasytobepink]

"No, we went over the situation as it stands," the Timebroker felt like bashing his head on a wall honestly. "We may be able to shift the physical requirements, or rather shift your physical parameters, but if you're not emotionally or mentally able that's another story..."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

The feeling was mutual.

"I'm fine, ain't nothin' wrong with me that I can't handle a thing." His current hostility and rollercoaster emotions notwithstanding.

[noteasytobepink]

"Yes, that's a useful answer, thank you for giving me an honest evaluation of your mental and emotional needs so we don't push you into a psychotic break by sending you on missions." What was WRONG with the man?! He thought for just a moment they were actually getting somewhere, he'd been LISTENING and now...this.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"I don't know what you want from me," he said, just as frustrated with the man as the Timebroker was with Bill.

"You're Mr. Collective unconscious, why don't you pull my file out of your ass an' read that?"

This was all going nowhere fast, and the worst part was he had nowhere else to storm off to, because this was it.

"Look, I'm pissed as shit an' scared like hell right now. I don't know what's happened or what I'm supposed t'do from here. I just found out I can't ever go home where I was born, raised, an' the only place I've ever known. I can't be with the woman I love an' have the life I wanted for us. An' all you can do is be a jackass an' talk at me like I'm some fuckin' idiot with shit for brains.

"But I'm still here. I'm breathin', I wanna deck you, an' I don't feel like I need to check myself into the funny farm." And that was it, the summation of everything roiling through him right now.

[noteasytobepink]

"I want to get a handle on your capabilities, especially because you never went anywhere else in your life, so we know whether we are sending you off now or if you're going to take shot at being in Clarice's team," he summed up.

"Of course you're scared. Of course you're angry. That means you're sane which is a point in your favor. Most team members roll with the punches and think on their feet though, they channel anger and frustration in to doing everything they can to reach their goal. I've tried for years to give her team someone she can love. I'm a terrible match maker, but she does have someone she thinks of as a brother at least. I give her what I can because she has nothing do you understand? I'd like to make it so you can be with her. I would. IF you think you can do it. Set aside wanting to hurt me, set aside being angry if you can, and think. Are you capable of operating outside of a small town setting at all? Can you take instructions from a guy like me and a team leader like Clarice?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Once again the Timebroker had Bill's focus, and Bill listened and thought about what was being said before responding.

"She's missed you an' the others," he said. "I can tell it, when she talks about you all." Just so the man knew.

As for himself and his current situation, "I can't tell you for certain if I could or not. I've never done it, aside from when I went to the academy. I believe I could, though, an' I'm willin' to try."

A beat, and in the name of full disclosure he added, "I will say takin' orders from her will come a lot easier than dealin' with you."

[noteasytobepink]

"We missed her," he offered softly. How could they not?

And hey, at least the man was being honest now. "I give missions, I see better than you all can," he admitted. "And Clarice is our team leader. In essence you'll be following us both." And that may not be easy for a Sheriff all told. He knew that much.

"I'm going to ask you to make me a promise. If at any point in the next few missions you feel you'll be unable to continue, TELL ME. She'd sooner see you safe and alive somewhere she can't go than dead or insane. Am I clear?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill nodded, accepting this information. Time would tell if he could live by those terms. He didn't see himself as someone who had trouble taking orders, but given he hadn't had to do it since becoming sheriff, and how often he and the mayor butted heads, there might be some adjustment that would need to happen.

The promise he gave willingly, knowing it would be hard to follow through if the time came, but desperate for the chance to at least try.

"Yes, I understand, an' I will."

[noteasytobepink]

"Alright, come with me then," he sighed. "You'll have some studying to do about the sorts you're likely to meet and terminology so you're not completely lost. That should keep you busy until you and Clarice are mission ready." Ir at least it would keep him distracted from getting angry at Clarice he hoped.

"Do not make me regret this." But he was coming down off the dune at least?

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Pushing himself back to his feet was getting to be more of a challenge each time he had to do it, but he managed and stood, ready to follow the short man.

"I'll do my best," he said, some of the grumbling coming back. He really didn't like this man, but he also meant it. He would try.

[noteasytobepink]

Yes, well, that was a test in and of itself as well. "Good, less than that will get you killed," he offered simply. "I promise not to test you though? I have yet to figure out the human ideal of written tests." Humans were weird.

At least they didn't have to go far? There was a stretch of black and white kitchen tiles in a large square over the next couple of dunes. There was a cot set up on one corner, and a stove with nothing else around it on another corner.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill rolled his eyes, not sure if the guy was trying to crack a joke or was really serious.

Limping along he tried to straighten himself out a little as they walked in anticipation of seeing Clarice.

The random floor tiles was... random. And weird.

"What's this?" he asked, looking at the strange setup.

[noteasytobepink]

"Whatever it needs to be," he noted simply. "For now a bedroom and soup is on." That much was obvious wasn't it?

"And classroom now." Since now there was a college desk in the center of the tiles.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Okay." It was going to take awhile to get used to things here, Bill was sure of that. "This where you live?"

[noteasytobepink]

"In as much as I live anywhere," he admitted. "Things here are only as real as we need them to be, which one reason you can't live here. Humans and human-related types can get distracted, have nightmares, etc."