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Time Enough (Lady Nightshade and Mr. M)

He mrred and hugged her tighter. "For as long as I've known you, you've had... other distractions. Part of it is our job; there are times when we have to get close to others, physically and emotionally. I'm a 22nd century guy, I'm not particularly... possessive, dig? I know that whatever you feel for others, you're going to end up skipping off with me again at the end of it."

"But I have to admit, this Michael... this isn't the first time you've seen him, you know. He keeps... coming up. If I were the jealous type, I'd be jealous," he murmured, and for a moment there was an edge to his tone, but he relaxed almost instantly. "But I'm not."

"I can't tell you what to do about your knight over there. If this were a fair competition, I might get invested. But you will be my partner for a long time, and what we do is something he can't even conceive of at his level of socio-techological development. So I have an advantage. But whatever you feel for him... I can't disagree with that, either. The heart wants what it wants."

He hugged her tighter, and just let her think, exuding acceptance and gentle love, no matter her decision.
 
It all made sense to her as she relaxed against him even more. Yet, that one small part of her still felt wrong. Her heart tugging in two diffrent directions was knew for her. In a calm sense, Athena, was glade that joe wasn't being possessive. Much to the dismay from her own time where women still seemed to be fought over like a thing.

"So, your saying that if Michael was to get even closer to me; You would just stand by, and not jump in." It was a statement, even as Joe could pick up that it was only a matter of When and not IF when it came to Michael. No matter what he would say, her heart and mind was going to be split. Moral vs. heart.

"The Heart is also decietfull." Athena added again as she yawned and closed her eyes. Her body, relaxed against Joes, was loosing the battle of staying awake as she fell asleep.
 
“I'm saying that no matter how close you get to him, I can endure. Because I know we've got eternity. I don't think it's human to not have a reaction, but I'm not possessive, like I said. I know what the job entails, at this point, and if this is a stronger connection than most, well... I can deal with it.” He shrugged, under their blanket. “I don't understand why he is such a draw to you. But that's your choice, and it's not my place to question.”

He nuzzled against her as she yawned, and as he felt her starting to doze, he laid them down on his blanket, pulling hers over the both of them. He made sure to put another tailored dose of the anesthetic into the fire, just to be sure it would keep the knight and his soldiers out until they were ready for him to wake up; regardless of how he felt about the man, he was a useful ally, and Athena cared about him, so better not to alienate him quite yet by flaunting their relationship when he woke up.
 
It was a dreamless night for her. Blessed darkness giving away to the emotions she gave for her lover. Although, the dream she wanted would have been of what they shared. The craving her body and soul had for Joe was deeper then time himself. It was in the early hours of the morning when she woke with his arm wrapped around her protectivly. Athena smiled and looked at him while he slept. The notion of what she had shared and felt was still the same from the hours before.

Eternity with him...


Athena thought as she took a hand to the side of his face and traced it lovengly. She knew they had to rouse very soon if they were to keep their relationship a secret.
 
Joe woke gently, easing into full consciousness smoothly, tightening his arms around her into a warm hug and lowering his face for a kiss. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

~~~~~ <break for wake-up conversation, but when it's done, he'll pick up below>

He cast his gaze around the campsite. "Once we get dressed and pack up a little, I'll wake the others. The antidote works quickly. I suppose I'll use a little Suggestall on a couple of the guards, tell them they stood a watch over the night, and gave me last watch. That way they'll think they crossed all the Ts and dotted all the Is."

He kissed her again. "There are times when I hate going back to work. But it's always good to work with you, 'Thena."
 
"I'm seeing that myself."

She replied after him. Watching him move away from her almost hurt, but the sun wasn't going to wait for them. With a sigh, she gathered herself up and found clean clothing in her tent. It was best she was found inside her own tent and decided to lay down for a moment more as the sounds of everyone waking was heard. Only then did she hear michael wake and start to move did she start to dress.

How am I going to face them?

Athena thought idly as she pulled up her pants. Today she decided that she was going to wear mens clothing. Riding the way she did yesterday wasn't in her style. However, she did manage to keep a shirt that was all women. it was just in her own style.

"Michael?"

She called out to him as she tried to make her way out of the tent.
 
Her Knight was stepping toward the tent as she emerged, and he stopped short, taking in her outfit, before he smiled again. "Forgive me; I know you do this when you're on the road, but it always gives me a start." He held up his hands, as if warding off her potential words. "And no, I don't need a reminder; you've already explained at length the difference between practicality and useless propriety. I have no trouble with your clothing, but I hope you'll forgive me if I do stare on occasion."

And with that he winked as he stepped close, took her hand, and kissed it. He held it between his own as he smiled down at her from up close. "I always sleep so well when we're camping together; I don't know whether it's the night air, or the satisfaction from having you close, but it never fails."
 
You have no idea. Athena thought as her face blushed red. If only he knew the real truth as to why. Outloud, "Having you close is a comfot for myself as well." Her face was still read when she stood and looked into his eyes. Fully aware that Joe was watching ever so closley. Even now, she wanted to do more of what she had experienced the hours before. Except only with her Knight.

What is wrong with me?


Athena knew that Joe loved her. The feeling was mutual, and yet she felt as if she was betraying him. Her heart was surly skipping a few beats and she knew her heart. It wanted him as well.


"Perhaps we should have time for us sometime."
 
"Time for us... would be nice," he said softly, and held her clasped hand to his lips again, staring into her eyes the whole time with a gentle smile. It was as if she could feel his desire for her with her entire body, and now that she knew something of what that ultimately meant, it was a lot more significant.

Behind him, the men-at-arms were prepping the horses, rolling up the bedrolls (the lady in the party was the only one to rate a tent), and putting out the fire, the lovely fire, which was superfluous as the day began to heat up. Joe was working with them, apparently unconcerned about Michael and Athena, but she had no doubt at least a few of his cybernetically-enhanced senses were directed her way.
 
"Perhaps a walk sometime soon then." Athena smiled and gave a smile only for him. Giving a quick glance over to Joe, she turned her attention back to Michael. "I just hope whatever is wrong dosen't spread and can be solved." Brushing past him, athena, let her hip brush against his. Sending a tingeling sensation that spread all throughout her body.

"Well, let's get a good start." Athena stated, walking up to her horse. One of the guards looked shocked that she wasn't going to eat anything before they left. As if sensing this she turned and gave a sly smile. "I can eat as we move. We still have a ways to go right?" Her eyes searched for Joe to give her an answer. It still was a bother as to how she would be able to fix whatever was wrong.
 
Joe was right there, pressing a leather pouch into her hands. "A few hours yet, yes, milady. But you're right, we should ride soon." He winked and moved to his own horse. The pouch held an apple and some bread and cheese, already sliced for easy snacking on the ride.

~~~~~

A few hours later, they rode up on a rise, and looked down on the sleepy village below. It would seem old-fashionedly pastoral, if it weren't for the utter silence of the place.

"Begging your pardon, Sir Michael," Joe said, ducking his head in a saddle-bound bow. "I should recommend the lady and I go down to investigate. If there's a sickness, no need to risk the lot of you. We're the ones interested, we ought to be the ones to take the chance."

Michael nodded, at first, but then looked sharply at Athena. "I know you've told me you do this sort of thing all the time, but I don't like you taking chances. Are you certain you want to take this alone?"
 
"Yes. I know how you want to protect me. However, I can assure you I can protect myself. Besides, I will have Joe and you'll not be far."

Athena responded to the man. It hurt him in some way that he couldn't go with her. In many ways, she had a feeling that if anything happened to her, Joe would be the one paying for it. With a smile she turned and clicked at her boots before walking towards their destination. The closer they walked, the more she felt something was wrong. Kinda like something was pressing hard against her.

"This.. This feels wrong.."

SHe shivered then and womndered if leaving the others behind was suppose to be a good thing or not. After all, if there was a sickness they would have to think that she could become sick as well from exposure. Joe and herself knew it wouldnt ever happen, but they didn't.
 
Joe was there next to her, speaking softly but urgently. "Keep it together, Athena. Let's just get behind that first row of cottages. You're not feeling anything from a pathogen or poision; spectro reads clean. Heck, the boys could probably have come down safely. What you're probably feeling is part of the Snag. It's something out of time, something big and a significant changer."

They made it just out of sight, and he was immediately next to her, easing her to lean against the wall, still speaking, explaining. "These people, this village – it wouldn't have died if it weren't for whatever did this. That's what you're feeling, the paradox. This is the kind of thing that will heal itself in the timeline, but we still have to find whatever did this and whoever set it up before more happens. The timeline is flexible, it patches unexpected rips, but rip it bad enough and something really unfortunate can happen. There are people just crazy enough to try and do that."

He paused and offered her some water from his canteen. "Keep breathing, it'll help. I'm told you'll get adjusted to the sensation, like a headache, and you'll be able to perceive different aspects of it all. Hopefully, that'll help us figure out where we can find whatever did this; you should be able to home in on it, eventually."
 
The water helped, but only for a moment. It was getting worse. Even with a hand on Joe, it was choking. Athena tried to push past that. To see just the villiage and not what was trying to crush them. It hit hard, knowing that those who died had impact on the future.

"All this.. It reminds me of the butterfly effect." She whispered. "When you kill a butterfly in the past, it has a huge impact in the future."

Even with what he was telling her, it was as if there were a thousand voices were talking all at once. It didn't help that she could hear the sick and dying. Calling out to them for help as it tugged on her heart. Nothing she had seen felt like this. There was too much to feel and yet as they drew closer, she could start to sense it growing from one of the houses near the middle of the city.
 
Joe nodded. "Exactly: the butterfly effect. That's the theory. The truth is, only a very few butterflies are significant. This village wasn't supposed to die, and that's what you're feeling. You might experience echoes of what it was like here during the a-chrono-typical event. But if it had significantly changed the future, there would have been others here. So it altered things, but nothing that history can't heal."

"What we have to do now," he said, easing her away from the wall and helping her move a bit down the street, "is figure out where it's coming from. That'll give us a clue." And that's when she started feeling the directional, that's when she started sensing something stronger from one of the central houses of the village.

"Here? Is this the one?" Joe asked in a whisper, bringing them alongside one of the closed doors. He listened, then stared at the wood, then held his hand against the surface of the door. "No sound of anyone moving about, thermals are all cold, and there's no indication that the door is trapped. I'm not going to risk showing off a pistol, so..." and here he drew his sword. His face was calm and serious, and he looked carefully at Athena. "I'm going to go in and secure the room. When you feel well enough to move, you follow me in, and we'll see if we can't figure out what started this whole thing." He gripped her shoulder reassuringly. "Ready?"
 
The feeling was making her feel very sick. Almost too much as she struggeld to have the contents of breakfast stay where it belonged. Giving him a curt node, she waited for Joe to make that first move. For it being her first time even feeling this stuff, Athena like it as much as having spiders crawl all over her.

"Ready as I would ever be..."

Her voice was sullen as if her favorite cat had died and she was about to bury it. Not a good feeling and she hoped it wouldnt feel this bad all the time. If it did, she doubted that she could manage many of these in close times.



(Sorry for it being short)
 
He burst in like a cop, his sword up and ready to thrust as his optics scanned with thermals and ultraviolet and low-light. The place was deserted, but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. He kept his sword-arm up and ready as he moved carefully around the room, scanning for evidence. The dust was thick here, thicker than normal, and it was heavy... it wasn't really dust, it was pulverized earth. There had been some excavation; perhaps access to the village water supply for whatever machine was here. He had no doubt it was a machine; if Athena was sensing a Snag so strongly, it must be some machine out of time, since it couldn't have been a person hiding here. There was no place they could have been.

"Athena," he called outside, "I don't perceive any danger. When you can, I'd like you to come in here and see if you can sense exactly where the Snag is. It's hidden; I just need a direction to look in before I can do a deep search. Take your time, though... when you're ready."
 
"Ugnph..If I prolong it, I will go insane.."


Athena shivered and walked inside. The air seemed cold. as if all the happiness was sucked out and replaced with a dark void. It reminded her of th Harry Potter movies. Yet, this was real and, flat out evil. Flickering her eyes up to Joe, she forced a smile and walked farther into the building. Coughing, as she took in a deep breath of the choking air.

"You.. better make up for this.."


She grumbled and closed her eyes for a moment. The slight threat only a hint of a tease to Joe that he was going to have to help her later in the evening. With another cough, Athena, opened her eyes and forced the rippleing feeling to calm down. That in itself, took alot of concentration on her part. The room was bare, dirty and of course cloudy. Each step she took brought another strange sensation. Comparing it to a game of hot and cold, where the player was blind and trying to find something with players yelling out if they were getting hot or cold.

"Whatever it is... It's powerfull..."


Athena whispered. Taking another step and practically stumbeling as she reached out to grab hold of Joes left forearm. "I'm ok." Speaking quickly as she straightend. With a sigh, she moved further, feeling the crackeling effect as the feeling grew "hot". It lead her past the center of the building towards the back. It was towards a corner that she knew it was there. To the normal humans, there wouldnt be anything to be seen. Athena, dropped her jaw as she saw more the Aura of what was there. It glowed menacengly, and she knew not to get closer.

"There Joe.."
 
He nodded, and waved her back, now that she'd identified where it was. He examined the corner more closely, noting microscopic seams, nano-scale concealment engineering. If he hadn't known where to look, it would have taken him hours of delicate searching to find it. "All right, let's see... " he tapped it a few times, read the vibrations with his fingertips, and felt all around the seams. Eventually, he pressed in a particular manner, experimentally. Nothing happened. He tried a different spot. On the third location, it worked; something clicked, pinged, and a panel opened up.

"Ah... there we go." He bent and examined the shiny metal egg with the glowing lights showing through the skin at translucent points. "Hm. I'm reading this as an incubator. Odd that it looks like an egg... incubator for diseases. Here's the feed-hose back in the back, and that... yeah, that must be the shaft to the water table."

He leaned back, sighing. "It looks like... whoever it was brewed up a toxic little bug in this thing, and then fed it into the water supply. Death with a drink; the village would have been infected within a day from the wells." He shook his head. "My onboard is decrypting its systems; whoever it was doesn't have our resources. According to the statistics, it was a short-burn virus; limited lifespan, guards against unplanned replication... seems like it was a test-run, limited burn. They didn't want it infecting all of England, just this village."

Then his eyes widened, and he threw himself backwards, veritably flying across the room to tackle Athena, shielding her as the egg glowed brilliantly and whined like an engine about to burn out. Joe had just tackled her to the ground when a muffled crump signaled its explosion. He grunted as shrapnel dug into his back, but made sure she was safe. Once the shards of metal had stopped flying and bouncing around the room, he lifted up off her, groaning. "That was the safety. If it sent a signal before it blew, it's possible our chronal saboteur is on to our presence." He brightened as he helped her to her feet. "On the up side, we don't have to worry about that disease factory any longer."
 
The air whooshed out of her lungs when Joe had tackled her. Sucking in some painfull breaths as she tried to tear at him for the tackle. Only when she saw what had came flying at her did she open her eyes. The bastard had known someone would come snooping around. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though her concern flew to Joe as he helpd her up.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Athena's eyes were so caring and almost tearfull. She knew he wasn't in any real danger, but, the though of him getting hurt was more then she could bare. It was plainy read in her eyes, even as Joe informed her of the outcome.

"What about those that are still ill?"


Moving close to him as she placed her right hand on his shoulder. It was still the back thought of where this person was. Something told her that this was just a small test. What better way to come back to a time where 911 didn't exist and the main reation to a plague was to kill the diseased?
 
Joe chuckled, in a slightly pained way, as he brought her to her feet. “I’m a little singed, but nothing I can’t handle. You’re in more danger; you don’t have the healing treatments I do, much less the subcutaneous armor and all that noise. I’m banged up, but I’m already getting better. No need to worry, ‘Thena.”

He listened to her as she worried about those still infected. “Well, those that got sick and made it out were lucky enough to adapt fast. That’s the problem with pathogens; there’s always a tiny few that are immune, or work up antibodies fast enough, or both. But this was administered days ago. If any of the sick were going to die from it, they have by now.” His face was sober, as it should be, but his mind was already thinking of the consequences and ramifications.

“This was either a test run, or it’s a long-term program. You know, give a situation a nudge here, do something else a century down the road, keep herding populations or bloodlines or whatever it is that’s supposed to be affected by this until it ends up how you want it. Except of course, nothing ever turns out just the way you want it, but people don’t seem to think of that.” He sighed, and gave her a sharp look. “The sense of out-of-time-ness ought to be less, by now, but if you can sense ANY of it, at all, then whoever did it is still around. It’s important to know whether we need to stick around here, or whether we should time-skip forward or back. That’s not an idle concern, there.”
 
Athena shivered. All she wanted to do was get out of the building they were in right now. It just didn't feel right anymore. her body seemed to ache as if she had ran a marathon. Though, something told here that this wasn't the only site. Why have just one? It didn't set right with her.

"I.. I just want to get out of her Joe. This building still dosen't feel right to me." she whispered and walked off. Almost feeling slightly giddy as she stepped out into the fresh air.

Looking around, she could still see some of the sick. It panged her and made her feel sick as hell. Without even waiting for Joe, she started South away from where they came. Something was pulling her in the direction. The farther she got, the better her stomach felt, but then she felt something else. An almost high sense of a feel ing that was mulling over her mind.

What is this?I thought things were supose to feel better. Wandering farther as some underbrush grazed her hips gently. Pulling a few strands of hair back from her face she turned and pushed past a few trees as she came to the sound of running water. There was a pulsating feeling as she turned and felt where it was comming from. It almost hurt as she ignored her body's pangs to stop. The fact that when she pulled away fromt he viliage and felt better, to now feeling like this was bothersome.

Athena moved a little farther when she felt like a brick wall slammed into her body. Numbing her legs so she fell over as the high sort of feeling rose. Not wanting to pass out she looked up to see the shadow of a man. Followed by a chuckle that chilled her to the bones.

"You're much to late little girl..."


Focusing, she tried to stand, to say something when he vanished...
 
Joe was following her at a slight distance, letting her have some space, but keeping her within easy reach. When she fell, he accelerated, rushing over to her, and when he came up, he saw the shadowy figure. Tactical computers flashed online, a million fight-or-flight scenarios raced through his combat simulators, reflex and muscle enhancements started pouring their chemicals into his system, and he rocketed forward, fists curling and hardening while subcutaneous weaponry activated throughout his body. Part of his mind registered what the man said, but by then he was in midair, and the man vanished, literally vanished, before he even came into Athena's view. He flashed through the space where the man had been, and landed on his feet, spinning with a spray of dirt and leaves as his dragging feet killed his momentum, and looked around.

"Damn," he breathed. "Skipped."

The tachyon burst of the transition into the surf-space was readable; it was the only element of the time travel experience that showed up on any scientific instrument, and he was close enough that his onboard sensors could pick it up, but it said nothing about what would happen next. "He could show back up anywhere, anywhen. The only thing he's sure about, though, is that we're right here, right now. He could have been set up with a sniper rifle in a treetop a half mile away for the past half hour, waiting for this moment. Come on, we have to move."
 
As they moved away and back down the trail they had come. Athena still didn't understand it. "Joe, He could have killed me then. I-I Saw the way he looked. It was predatory before he vanished. All I could see where his cold heartless eyes.." She shivered, rolling her right hand up to graze her left.

"Joe, I know this isn't over. Those eyes... He's planning something else. He'll be back here.."

Something told her by instinct that he would be back. Looking over at Joe she gave a weak smile. "Let's head back before Michael sends in the calvary."
 
"Oh, yes, the cavalry... quite literally in this case," Joe snerked. But he pointed out the right trail, and walked with her up the hill.

"Did you find what you needed to find, my lady?" Michael asked, pensively, leaning down from his mount.

"Lady Athena found what she needed. But there's nothing we can do for these survivors, I'm afraid. God will take those who He wants, the others will life." Joe led their horses over, and held the bridle for her to mount. "But now, now I suspect we might wish to head home. There may be more deviltry afoot, but I suspect it's gone from here, for now."
 
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