A/N: I'll update with the cast later. Enjoy!
Update: Click on the picture above to view the cast! You may recognise some people. Some names may be unfamiliar because they haven't been introduced yet, so read on to find out more!
***

Two weeks flew by, in which Kendall spent trying to piece things together. She did not enter the new time-frame, for fear for altering too much. She wanted to find a piece of evidence that can help her, before entering. And today would be a crucial day to get the evidence she needed. It took some time to arrange this meeting, because her mother was always on the run and hard to find. After securing her location, Kendall needed to act quickly.

Sometimes people thought that simply because Kendall graduated and started work early, she would have been "more mature". Truth was that she still felt like any other teenager. She wore chokers and did her brows and liked Netflix and wished she could do it all day.

"You didn't think to call?" Her best friend, Macy, yelled when Kendall picked up the phone. She laughed. Macy was always nagging, which was needed, considering Kendall's often reckless behaviour.

"Sorry." Kendall said half-heartedly, bending down to balance the phone between her ear and shoulder as she fished for her pass. Macy did the same once Kendall finally used her phone after Blake's death. Everyone gave their condolences, but Kendall knew that they would forget him and move on. Deaths were common, especially in the kind of the work they both did.

Her hair was in a messy bun and she threw a sweater on with simple black shorts and high knee socks. She stood out in that way, amidst all the office attire, yet still earned the respect of others.

"What's the meeting for today? You must have had to prepare a lot, judging from how you didn't call me for two days. Two days!"

"You're exaggerating, mom." Kendall said as she pushed open the glass door to the room. "An important VIP, some government official of another country, got kidnapped and they're demanding ransom. We're trying to find a way to outsmart and help."

Kendall could almost feel Macy's eye-roll. "What part of the stuff you study comes into play for that?"

"I'm a planner too, remember? I'm trying to find a way to save him without giving the ransom."

"What's the ransom?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is, it must be important, since they said it's impossible to give it away." Kendall acknowledged the eye-contact from her colleague, silently telling her that it's time to hang up. She closed the flap of her tassel bag. "I need to go, talk to ya soon."

Once she tucked her phone safely away, she folded her arms. Her slides were already on the powerpoint screen. She stood up and took her place at the front, laser-pointer in hand. "Let's start the meeting then."

///

After the meeting, Kendall quickly bowed and then rushed off. She couldn't miss this meeting, not when it could possibly hold the key to her life. She wore a key necklace together with her hourglass one, as if it was a reference to this statement. She threw a white cardigan on, at an attempt to make herself more docile in front of her mother. Her too-tight black converse interfered in her running speed as she dashed across the road right before the red light came on. As she sped down the streets, she checked her reflection in her mirror.

At the juncture, Kendall wasn't watching her way and crashed into a bicycle coming down the slope from the other road. She didn't even notice it, until she was knocked towards her left onto the ground.

She groaned as she sat up, surveying the damage taken. There was a gash on both her legs. It would have been worse if she hadn't learnt how to fall properly. The cyclist seemed to have his injuries too. He fell from his bicycle, earning him a deep cut across the forehead and abrasions over. There could have been a sprain. Kendall simply got up and prepared to start running.

"Hey you." The cyclist spoke amidst his groaning. Kendall closed her eyes and wished that he would leave her alone. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it was my fault too."

"Are you okay?" He said, trying to get up. Kendall nearly asked him amusingly to check his own wounds first before tending to her.

"I never felt better." She decided that she shouldn't run away just yet. Once he was up, she surveyed his wounds closer.

Squatting to see his knee wounds, she advised, "Abrasions. Just clean it properly and get plasters. As for your head wound, I don't think you need stitches, but just in case you should --"

"Huh? You don't look hurt at all." He mused, his head still covering the head gash.

"Don't touch that wound!" She glared. In response to his comment, she shook her leg out for him to see the gash she got.

"I know, but--"

"If you're not going to pursue this matter, thank you very much. If you'll excuse me, I need to get going for a very important appointment."

"Kendall, I'm in the same school as you." He said. Kendall found this comment an utter waste of time. She did not remember this guy at all. However, she saw that he had his student pass in a lanyard around his neck. He was carrying a laptop bag, a laptop that she recognised as very professional. He had glasses, poor posture and dark eye circles and carried McDonalds' takeaway.

"Yeah I remember you, Daniel. You were that computer whiz." She lied. She knew his name from the pass and could tell that he did computer work a lot, from her observations about him.

He looked relieved. "That's great! By the way, I have a theory about time travelling that might interest you. I noticed that you searched it that day at the public library." He handed her some sort of fake name-card. "If you're interested on working on that theory with me, give me a call."

She was silently judging him, only half-interested in his observation. Just then, another boy with jet-black hair and deep green eyes, hit the card down. "Piss off." He laughed. Daniel pursed his lips and bent to pick up the card and the guy, who Kendal recognised as Ricky, kicked him, but not too hard. He gestured forward. Kendall bowed slightly with false enthusiasm before leaving with Ricky. She did not know when she had that weird bowing-slightly habit, but it stuck with her.

Ricky was from her school too and she never liked him. He spent more time playing truant than actually coming to school. She spun, facing him. "Was that really necessary?" Her hands were on her hips. She didn't like either of them, but Ricky definitely had to be the worse of two evils. Next, Kendall left and continued the journey to meet her mother.

///

"Mom? Sara? It's me, Kendall." She knocked on the door of her mother's temporary motel room. Where did she get money to pay for this stuff? She thought. Just then, a woman came up to Kendall, fuming.

"Who are you? Her daughter? Pay her rent." The woman said. She was a mess and patted the filer in her hand, somewhat menacing. What are you going to do? Kill me with that filer? Kendall mocked.

"How much?" Kendall obediently did that favour. After all, she didn't want those sort of people going after her mom.

Once the tenant was gone, she called again. "Mom?"

"Go away. I can't pay." Kendall recognised that voice, it was definitely her mother's. The one that used to be sane and joyful and read her bedtime stories.

"I'm not the tenant, mom. I'm here to see you. The hourglass..."

"Kendall?" She sounded so glad and opened up the door, throwing her into a hug. She smoothened out Kendall's outfit. "You've grown. You--"

"You abandoned me."

Sara's face fell. "It's not what it looks like. It's because..."

"There was something you were fleeing from. It wasn't just the chain murders, was it? It was something worse."

At this, Sara looked even sicker. After a while, she sighed. "Let's talk inside."

She shut the door firmly.

///

"So what is it? Is it --"

"Goodness, stop asking questions. I'll explain everything one by one. It's about time you know anyway. But first, shouldn't you catch up with me? How I've been doing, and how--"

"You never bothered to catch up with me. Why should I care now?" This conversation wasn't going the way Kendall wanted it to.

"Fine. I need to tell you something important, especially since I know Blake is gone and you'll miss him."

"You know Blake?"

"Why---yes." Sara said uneasily. "Listen carefully, Kendall. It can be hard to believe but everything I tell you is true. Kendall, we aren't.. we aren't that ordinary. Our family, I mean. You see, we..."

Kendall nodded impatiently. "Uh huh..?"

"We're special. As they say it, our family has always been enhanced. You've always been a smart child. Not just textbook knowledge, you could analyse well. And don't you realise that you have quick reflexes and speed. You should be able to fight well too. We have all harnessed the ability to work our adrenaline to the maximum. Some people are like us too, but there are more powerful ones, which you shouldn't meddle with."

Kendall spat, "Enhanced? You're delirious, mom. Maybe you ought to be in that facility. How did you get out anyway, it was like you were never there? You left everyone in confusion."

"The hourglass, Kendall. That's how I did it. But it's dangerous, even more dangerous than I expected it to be. You ought to give it back to me. You can't meddle with stuff like that. Mess up, which is highly likely, and you get stuck in a fate that's worse than death."

"Yeah, I tried it too, but it was good and --"

"You TRIED it? But how did you..?" Sara put her hand to her heart in pure astonishment. "Don't go back ever again." She reached out for the hourglass necklace, around Kendall's neck. It was hiding behind her top.

"How did you know it was there?" Kendall retaliated, shifting back. "And I'm not giving it away. It's so helpful, I could save Blake..."

"I knew it was there because I heard it in your mind. We don't have telepathy and we don't actually 'hear' it. We just know it, I can't explain." Kendall nodded. She understood how it felt. Her relating to this experience frightened her. It shouldn't, since everything her mother said was nonsensical. Her mother grabbed her arm. "You have to believe me, Kendall. That's why the killer wants us dead. In fact, there are multiple people who want us dead. Those who know about this ability that all members wed on born into this family have, feel that it's unfair. We were supposed to be on the higher pedestal among humans, and they don't like it. Give and take--we get the ability, but in exchange for our ability." She shivered with fright.

"The ability to change those timeframes is one of the highest. The hourglass holds the power those jealous humans manifested. A long time ago, they killed all the family members that had that power. They tied them together and beat them till their ruthless deaths. These unique hourglasses are everywhere, like yours. All of those who can do this without the hourglass are dead." She stared blankly at the space on Kendall's clothing, the exact spot where the necklace was behind. "This world is all about give and take. Take that power, you get a punishment in return. If you go in too often, your 2016 and 2017 worlds merge and... you go into equilibrium. You would start to wander in that timeframe with the same scene repeating over and over again, for eternity. Since you entered with the purpose of saving Blake, you'd be stuck watching his death over and over. You can't move apart from replay the incident of you watching him die. You won't age or die, but you'll keep doing it over and over again."

Kendall was shocked. To be doing the same thing over and over again for all of eternity was bad. She'd rather die. She would be so bored and lost.

"You can't go in again, okay?" Her mother gripped both of Kendall's shoulders, fingers digging in. Kendall grimaced. "If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn't have given it to you. I thought it could enhance your abilities to protect you, but that backfired. Besides, if you don't successfully change things, the ability could swallow you and the people you know up so that nobody would know of its ability. Promise me you won't go back there."

"Swallowing up? Repeat that part." It was Kendall's turn to feel at a loss. Sara gaped, regretting saying that. She grabbed the necklace and Kendall struggled to get it out of her hands. "What are you going to do? Erase what you just said? You can't!" Kendall was stronger than her mother and shoved her away, getting the necklace back. It was a cruel move, but it wasn't as if they were close anyway."

Kendall dusted herself off as Sara looked horrified. "Everyone I know could die? I need to change things then! I'm going back, you can't stop me." She got up to leave.

"It's not so simple! You can't just change what you like like that."

"I don't believe most of the things you said, so I'll pretend this conversation never existed. But if anything, this gave me more motivation to go back." Kendall said, her back facing Sara. Since when was she the rebellious and reckless daughter? Kendall couldn't remember.

"Stop!" But Kendall was already outside and running back home. As she ran, she was very uneasy. She always ran about. The places she ran to were very far but she was always surging with energy, and she was extremely quick. "Just genes", she claimed as she rounded the corner. This wasn't a superhero movie. She was used to believe in scientific explanations, not fiction.

Then again, Kendall used to read semi-science theories that some people could use the hormone adrenaline, which allows one to become stronger, quicker and more alert, as much as they wanted, while normal people's bodies only released it in life-or-death situations. As for the time-travelling thing, that was simply weird. Her phone rang, and it was an anonymous number. She picked it up.

"Kendall, if you need a science explanation, just know that the ancestors manipulated science creations and equipped themselves with such abilities. I can't explain some, but know that it's true. And I ran away in hopes of getting rid of these abilities. It was working out until you visited." The caller said hurriedly, before hanging up. That was definitely Kendall's mother. How did she know I was just thinking that? A lot of things didn't make sense to Kendall too. She had to sleep it out.

"A little hourglass work wouldn't hurt." Kendall had strong counter-culture tendencies that wanted to go back, amidst all the things she hurt. She got to the location she was a year ago and turned the hourglass.

///

"So I guess you're joining the team, then." Blake smirked. Kendall couldn't say it, but she was relieved to see him. He looked suspicious. "Stop it."

"What?"

"Looking at me like that. Like you lost something, I don't know. You just look at me weird."

But how could she tell him? How could she say what a relationship they had. She did the silliest thing ever.

"You look like my ex-boyfriend." She blurted.

Blake shifted back, a little caught off-guard. Kendall was red in the face, like she was caught red-handed. "And now she turns red." He smiled a little. "It must be true then. I'm sorry about whatever happened between the both of you."

"He died." Kendall couldn't tell why she had to say that. "I can't ever forgive him for that."

"I think he would not have liked it happening to him too." Blake shrugged. He was a little bit shy that he hit Kendall's weak spot, too.

Kendall cleared her throat, attempting to change the subject. As they entered the headquarters, she told him that she needed an errand. He followed.

"I didn't exactly want you to come." She said with her back facing him. She could hear the door opening.

"Whatever." Blake gave that smile and sat smugly on the guest couch. "What's that?"

She opened the door to a cupboard. Two vanguard sheets were on each side, full of photographs and evidence. "Before you came, they told you about the Bloombury murders, right?" She examined it and added more information to the whiteboard on the side. The whiteboard was for likely-to-be-fake information. She wrote down what her mother told her, which fell nicely into that category.

She saw Blake nod in the corner of her eye. He started clicking a pen he found on the table. "Behold my 'wall of evidence'." She stepped aside for him to see. He popped chewing gum into his mouth and gave her a nod of recognition, then she stepped in front again and continued writing, as well as fixing a fallen photograph. "I'll find out the truth someday." She used to have that cupboard at home, until Jo starting sharing clothes more often and occasionally opened the wrong cupboard--this one. Being her sister also meant that Jo could guess where the key was. Thus, Kendall shifted it here.

She locked it securely and pulled the handle once to re-confirm that it was safely bolted. It had three bolts, as Kendall was trying to be really careful with all that information. "We should get going."

They sat and listened for the Harrid's instructions these time. Kendall knew that a year ago, the objective they were given was easy, to escort the President for a meeting in a dangerous country. However, little did Kendall know that the objective changed this time round.

  "Listen up for your mission. An important VIP, some government official of another country, got kidnapped and they're demanding ransom. We're trying to find a way to outsmart and help." 

Kendall sat up very straight. A shiver ran up her spine. She heard this mission before. It was new. Where was it again?

It was in 2017.

This couldn't be. She checked the digital clock, confirming it was 2016. Moreover, Blake was right here. She indeed went back in time. In that case...

Her mother must be right. All that weird babble could actually be true. This confirmed one portion of it, at least.

Her 2016 and 2017 worlds merge.

She could go into equilibrium.