In Heinz site, Anita could see why following some strange, forty something year old man into an alley might have been a bad idea. The city was full of all sort of creeps, especially since the meta human criminals had started popping up. One could never be too careful. Still, the Flash usually showed up to save the day. (She wasn't sure how he knew people were in danger, but she figured he'd probably show up if something happened. He was the city's designated super hero after all.)

Anita paused at the entrance of the alley, frowning when the mystery man headed towards the dumpster just below the fire escape of the nearby building. "What? Is your time machine a trash can?"

He turned and gave her a look of pure disgust. "Don't be stupid. Trash cans can't be time machines. Do you know how badly a person would smell, if they went around traveling in a garbage container? How would you get a thing like that to move through time anyway?"

Anita rolled her eyes and shrugged dramatically. This guy was being chased through her school by a flame throwing meta human, but a time traveling dumpster was too unbelievable? Sure, why not? "Okay. Then, where is your time machine?"

The man turned again, moving swiftly as he reached behind the dumpster and pulled out a thick, leather bound history book. It looked suspiciously like some warn down version of the books she used in her fifth period class. (Same color scheme and everything. Right down to that crude drawing of a Vikings helmet and war ship.) Anita raised her eyebrow at him. "So...it's not the dumpster, but it's behind it?"

He nodded, like that made much more sense. Anita still wasn't convinced. So, she asked, "And it's a history book?"

"Yup. I stashed it here, when that rude fire guy stole the front page, which I need to go home. He set it on fire when I tried stealing it back before. So, I figured I'd better keep the rest of the book safe while I track him down. It's the only one I've got...Well, actually it's not just this one." The mystery man nodded, shifting the book in his hands so that he could hold it up for her. "This one only takes you through the twenty-first century. There's more books back at the lodge, but this one's the only one I brought with me."

"The lodge?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"...Right. Well, if your 'time machine' is a bunch of books then what did you have to steal? How do books need to be fixed? The front page or..?" Anita wondered. She flexed her fingers, using air quotes, as she said the words time machine.

"Oh! Right! I'll show you. Hold on." The mystery man reached in his pocket, either not noticing her sarcasm or not caring about it. When he withdrew his hand from his pocket, he was holding a piece of paper: something that looked like a publication page. Only, instead of the name of a publishing company it just had The Lodge written in big fancy, curly letters right smack dab in the center of the page. The corners of the paper were a little singed from where - apparently - the flaming meta human had set fire to it, when the mystery man had been stealing it back. From the burnt pieces of the page, Anita could see a few lose wires poking out as well.

Anita watched as the man flipped the book to the first page. He placed the page inside the book carefully, aiming his watch at the book's spine. She frowned, as the page slowly began fixing itself up... Well, sort of. The burnt edges were still there, of course. (It wasn't magic after all.) But the left side of the paper began reattaching itself to the book's hinges. The wires mended themselves, stitching together just enough that they weren't just hanging limply; after a moment, the page looked completely normal (aside from the varies singes). One wouldn't even be able to tell it had wires inside of it (as long as they didn't look too closely that is). The only sign that it had ever been ripped out of the book at all was the small hair line tear along the left edge of the page.

"Whoa," Anita muttered. She blinked, not really believing what she was seeing. That couldn't be real could it? Sure, there were meta humans and vigilante's, but magically repairing (almost repairing) a book had to be imposible. Right? Yet, there it was...happening right before her eyes. And seeing was believing wasn't it?

The mystery man nodded, grinning lightly, as he held up the now (mostly) repaired book. "Yup. So...That's it."

"That's it?" Anita frowned. And when he just nodded and shrugged, she shook her head. "But how does it work? Do you just point to a page or?"

"Well, I could show you, but..." He trailed off awkwardly, looking rather uncomfortable.

Anita titled her head to the side, frowning. Why was he being weird all of a sudden? He had come to her school and brought her all the way out here to see the stupid thing, but now he wasn't even going to show her how it worked? "But what?"

The man shuffled his feet, tucking the book under his arm. "It's just..." He shook his head, forgetting about whatever he'd been about to say and instead going with, "Well, don't you have a family you've got to get back to? They'll probably be worried after that human torch attacked your school."

She stared at him, unamused. "I use to watch Doctor Who with my mom. I know how time travel works," she insisted. "You can just drop me off here again, and my family will never know."

For some reason, that sentence seemed to make the man all the more uneasy. Anita stared at him, not understanding, until he let out a heavy sigh, finally relenting. "You're what? Eleven? Twelve?"

"Yeah?" Anita frowned. "So?"

"So, you're a kid. And I'm an adult male! People get suspicious about that!"

She opened her mouth to say something, as the thought sank in. But no words came out. It was something that hadn't really occurred to her. Any suspicion that the man had ill intent had been tossed out as soon as he mentioned a time machine. "You're worried people will think you're a pedophile?"

The man didn't say anything, but she could tell from the look on his face that that was, in fact, the case. She snorted at the expression. He was something of a big man child. How could anyone think he'd hurt someone? "We'll just tell anyone who asks that you're my father."

The man eyed her skeptically, and for a moment Anita was confused again, before taking another glance at him. She looked down at her own hand, making a face. Her skin was a trifle too dark for her to be his daughter. "...Step father," she added.

He frowned for a moment longer, before breaking out into a grin. "That sounds plausible. Okay. Come on, then!"

She stepped forward, eyeing the book curiously. "You still haven't told me how this thing works," she said, poking the cover of the book. The man held it up, opening it up to the burnt page once more.

"Right," he nodded. "It's kind of ruined now, but I think it'll be good enough to get us back to the Lodge. And from there we can go to any time period that ever was or ever will be. Just hold on to it here." He gestured at the spine of the book. "Oh, and be sure to bend your knees. It's kind of hard to land upright when traveling like this."

Anita shot him a look, as she grabbed hold of the book. "Like this? How many other ways are there to travel through time?"

He shrugged. "Oh, at least two. Three if you count speedsters. The Time Masters use ships. The Bureau uses time couriers. Kinda like this." He tapped his watch. "But mine is cooler."

"...Wait. Time Masters? Bureau? What do you -"

Anita was cut off, when the man dog eared the burnt edge of the page, closing the book a second later. "Hold on tight," he told her. "Not sure where you'll end up if you let go too soon."

The book began humming in their hands, and Anita felt it vibrate a little. It was a bit odd, but she supposed this thing just looked like a book. It was actually a machine. The mans eyes widened, like he just remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot. There's side effects!"

"Side effects?" Anita asked. Too late. A small rectangular object that looked suspiciously like a book mark projected from the top of the book. A round, glowing, blue sphere (she guessed it was some sort of time travel protection to keep their faces from peeling off) emitted from the book mark, forming around them; and the two disappeared in the blink of an eye.

For a moment, all Anita could see was the color green. Her breath hitched at the sight. It was like something right out of one of those old timey dance videos with the green screen and bright, neon colors. The ground was no longer under her feet, like everything in existence had just disappeared. All that was left were these green waves, dancing gracefully. The sight made Anita's heart skip a beat. It was absolutely gorgeous. She had half a mind to break out into choreography, but she remembered what the man had told her about holding on to the book and decided against it.

Wind rustled her hair, though she wasn't sure where it was coming from. Her body felt weightless, and for a moment she worried she'd start floating away. She tightened her grip on the book, not wanting to lose it. And that's when she realized it was the only thing she could really feel. She couldn't even sense the blue ball surrounding her, even when she tried touching it with her toes. It was there, but she couldn't feel it.

Her jaw clenched at the realization. She couldn't feel anything. Except for her hand, her whole body was numb, as if all the nerves in her body had just given out. As if she were completely paralyzed. She didn't even have that tingling sensation people got when their feet fell asleep. There was just...nothing. Panic settled in for a moment, but she relaxed when she realized she could still move her legs.

She glanced at the man. He seemed perfectly calm, as if he had done this a million times. There was no excitement at the scenery either, like he'd already grown use to seeing it every time he time traveled. (He probably had.) There was no indication that he felt the same weightlessness or numbness that Anita did, though maybe he had just gotten use to that too. Anita gripped the book even tighter, wanting to feel something... and then all of a sudden she didn't.

In a matter of seconds, everything changed. Like a light switch, her nerves flicked on again, and she gasped as the feeling returned to her body all at once. Like stepping out into a harsh winter night, a cold breeze of air slammed into Anita's face, withdrawing a gasp from the teenager. The cold was so shocking that she forgot to bend her knees as she had been instructed to do, and Anita fell to floor with a yelp.

The man laughed lightly, as he helped her up. "Told you. Hard to land upright." She shivered, taking in her surroundings. They were no longer in the green pool. Instead, they stood in a cozy little room with matching wood floors and ceiling. To the right there was a brick wall next to a book shelf. Two reclining chairs sat in the center of the room, lamps behind them and a rug underneath them. On the back wall, three rows of square windows were strategically aligned with another. In front of the windows and in between the two chairs was a small table, a potted plant upon it surface.

Anita wrapped her arms around herself, her teeth clattering together. "This is the Lodge?"

The man nodded, setting the book down on the shelf. "What do you think?"

"I think it's freezing in here..."

He frowned. "Really? Must be a time travel side effect, because I don't feel it. Which is good. I hate the cold. Come on. There's a fire place downstairs. It'll warm you up."

Anita followed him down the hall, taking note of the house's set up. There were paintings all along the walls. (One of the paintings even looked a little too identical to the Mona Lisa.) On the desks and tables in the rooms they past were random knickknacks and junk from (Anita guessed) all throughout the time line. There seemed to be a surplus of bedrooms and studies, but as far as Anita knew this man was the only one who actually lived her.

And there didn't seem to be any pictures. Nothing to indicate this man had any friends or family of any kind. She knew he couldn't remember who he was, but surely he still had people in his life, didn't he? There had to be someone out there waiting for him to come back to them....right? Anita was about to ask about it when another shudder was sent through her body, making her teeth chatter too much to speak.

They rounded the corner, passing the bathroom and a set of large, wooden doors, closed that Anita couldn't see inside the room. To the left, windows lined the wall from ceiling to floor, revealing a beautiful forest just a few feet away from the house. Anita made a mental note to check it out later, as the man lead her through a small doorway and down a flight of cobblestone stairs.

To the left of the stairs was a massive, brick fireplace as promised, two leather chairs on either side of it as promised. Across from the fire place sat a comfortable looking couch and a coffee table. Above, there was a round chandelier. Still no pictures on the walls...

Anita shook the thought away, hurrying to sit in one of the chairs by the fire place, rubbing her arms. Once she felt the heat from the flames, Anita relaxed, letting out a soft sigh...before sitting up abruptly, realizing something. "Do you just leave this fire on all the time?"

The man shrugged, perching himself on the arm rest of the other chair. "So what if I do?"

Anita stared at him with wide eyes. "Uh, dude! You're going to burn your house down!"

He shook his head. "No I won't. Patch always watches the place when I'm gone. So, he'll take care of anything that goes awry. Even runaway flames."

"Patch?" Anita asked. Before the man could explain, a white tom cat with black patches all over his fur sauntered in from the kitchen - the room behind the couch. The cat stretched out on the floor, yawning. Then, he walked over and sat in front of Anita, looking up at her with interest. She looked back down at him, letting out a surprised gasp, when she noticed he had two different eye colors: one golden brownish-orange (the right eyes) and one ocean blue (the left eye).

Anita looked back at the man. "You have a cat?"

He nodded. "He's holographic."

"What do you -" The cat's body flickered, static running along his form from his pointy ears to his fluffy tail. "Oh," Anita said, nodding slowly. "I get it now..."

"Yeah," the man shrugged. "He's programmed into the house. So, he can pretty much run the place when he feels like it. Which is most of the time, because he doesn't like the way I fold the towels."

" ...Right," Anita said slowly. She decided not the comment on the weird dynamic this guy had with his house pet. Instead, she chose to focus on something far more pressing. "Wait. So, you named a hologram before you named yourself?"

Patch let out an indignant hiss at that statement, which made the man snort. And Anita swore that the cat walked off in a huff. The man shifted awkwardly once the cat made his way up the stairs and out of the room. He fiddled with his glasses (a nervous tick Anita also had, strangely enough). "I already have a name," the man reminded her. "But -"

"You can't remember it. I know," Anita said. "But what am I supposed to call you until you figure out what it is? Mystery Dude?"

The man made a face. "Eh. No. Not that."

"What about the Doctor?" she suggested. "You kind of act like him. And you quoting him earlier. Oh! Does that make me Rose Tyler?"

The man shook his head. "I think that would be copyright infringement, wouldn't it?" He looked back at her, and she could tell this whole name thing was really getting to him. He didn't want to be called anything except his real name...except he had no idea what that was. She frowned. That must have been infuriating. Anita had never not known her own name; she couldn't imagine what it must've been like, not knowing. Not remembering anything of real significance. Not remembering your values or beliefs... your family...your friends...even yourself... All of that was just gone for him. How tragic...

Anita shoved those terrible thoughts away. It would be better to keep things light for now. "What about Oculus?"

"Oculus? That's a funny word. Where'd you come up with something like that?" He tilted his head at her.

She pointed to his wrist. "It's on your watch."

He lifted his arm so he could take a look, grinning lightly, when he spotted the word printed on the face of the watch, like he hadn't noticed it before. "So it does. Okay, then. I guess that's better than no name at all. Oculus it is."

"Cool." Anita nodded. She stood up, feeling thoroughly warm now that she had spent a few minutes by the fire. "So, what year is this? Can we go exploring?"

The newly named Oculus shrugged once more, standing himself. "2056. And I don't see why we couldn't."

Anita grinned. "Sweet." She ran to the front door, the man walking behind her in a much calmer manner.

The exterior of the house was made from a fine red brick and black roof tiles. Off to the left, a garage was attached to the house. It was opened up so that they could see inside, Anita didn't see any cars. There wasn't much of anything in there at all, really. Just this big, metal machine with bars bent so that they were in the shape of a sphere, similar to the one that surrounded the duo when they time jumped, and a chair in the middle.

Anita nodded at the machine. "What's that?"

Oculus glanced at the machine, and his face contorted in to a perplexed expression. "I'm not actually sure. But I came here in it. I think it was a time machine, but it's broken now. That's why I use the books in the library instead."

Anita nodded, walking closer and crouching on her knees to examine it. The thing had a faint blue glow, four stands on the bottom to keep it up right. It didn't look like much, and Anita couldn't see an engine. So, she wasn't sure how it was supposed to start up. But something did catch her eye. A name on the back of the seat. Cisco Ramon.

"That's the guy who made this thing, I think," Oculus said, taking note of the name as well. "His name's on the books too."

"Maybe you knew him," Anita guessed. "He could have given you all this." She gestured around her, indicating the time machines and the Lodge. (And, to a lesser extent, Patch.)

"I don't know," Oculus said quietly. Anita figured he must have already had the same thoughts and dismissed them. "If that's true, then why can't I remember it? And if I was friends with this Cisco guy, then why isn't he here now? Why would he leave his things with me?"

"Well," Anita said, jumping to her feet. "The stamp says Star Labs next to his name. So, he probably works there. Let's go find him and ask him."

Oculus shook his head. "I've already tried looking for him. I don't think he's anywhere in Central City anymore."

She shrugged. "Well, maybe you missed something. Star Labs is a pretty big place."

"True..." He didn't sound very convinced though.

Anita smiled optimistically. Maybe she was just glad for the distraction from her own problems, or maybe the prospect of solving a mystery excited her, or maybe it was just thrilling to know that she was standing in Central City... forty years in the future. She wasn't sure, but in that moment, she was absolutely happy. It was the best mood she'd been in since she'd moved in with her dad full time. "So, how do we get inside? Can we just...walk in?"

"They turned it into a museum about twenty years ago," Oculus explained. "We can buy tickets for the tour and sneak off from the group."

"Is that what you did last time?" Anita snorted.

"...Maybe."

She laughed. "Okay! Let's go!"

Okay, so this is a little longer than the first interlude, but that's okay, isn't it? Hopefully...

I hope you guys are liking Anita and her story so far. (Small spoiler: Her brother will be joining them shortly) What do y'all think about Oculus being a person instead of a machine? Is that a cool change or do y'all hate it? Any theories on who he really is yet?

I spent, like, all week writing this. It was really fun. I had fun making up my own things for time travel. (The books) I wanted something a bit different for Oculus, and I don't think I've seen anyone else use that sort of thing before. But you know what a better thing to take you through history than a history book, right?

I name dropped Cisco, but (small spoiler) he won't actually make an appearance. So, don't get your hopes up. I know he was at the begining, and he'll be in the crossovers when we get there...but if Oculus meets him now then the mystery will be solved much too soon. So...yep.

So, this is getting long and I'm running out of junk to say, so I'll end it here by giving y'all some visual aids of Patch, the Lodge, and Cisco's time machine from season one.

(Time machine)

(Lodge's kitchen)

(Lodge's living room)

(Lodge's library)

(The room Anita and Oculus showed up in after the time jump)

(Exterior of the Lodge)

(Patch)

Oh, and here's a visual aid for the burnt page of Oculus's book that they used to time travel with.

Kay. I'll stop bothering y'all.