⏳ 1888

"What were you two thinking?!" Freddy slammed his closed fist on his desk, everything on its surface jumping up upon contact. "We've been following this underground investigation for months! And you both managed to sabotage it in a matter of minutes!"

I leaned against the wall next to the threshold, arms folded over my chest. Eilian slouched in one of the chairs slightly angled in front of Freddy's desk. I watched him roll his eyes as Freddy continued to scold us. He was skating on thin ice. Sooner or later, he was going to fall through, and he was going to drag me with him.

"Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

I kept my lips zipped shut, not even allowing breath to escape. But Eilian struggled to do that. He raised his feet and rested them on the edge of Freddy's desk, crossing them leisurely. "Calm down, Freddy. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

"That's Chief Inspector Abberline to you," he snarled.

Eilian raised his hands in a condescending fashion. "Chief Inspector." He rolled his eyes in an obvious manner as he kicked his feet off the desk. "Give me a break. If we hadn't jumped in, your boys in blue would've spent the night chasing their tails. Afterall, that's what their good at. Trained by the best it seems."

"Watch your mouth," Abberline growled through clenched teeth.

Eilian stood, squaring off with him, challenging him. "Or what?"

"I'll–"

"That's enough!" I interrupted, coming off the wall to stand in between them, gently pushing Eilian away. "Arguing like this achieves nothing. We need to find Jack before he kills someone else." I turned to Abberline. "Have you got any more leads?"

Abberline took a breath, calming down slightly. "That was our last lead."

"Then we better find another one." I hooked my arm through Eilian's and led him out of the office, closing the door behind me.

I led him outside into the cold street. Powdery snow sprinkled lightly from above. The flames in the lampposts flickered uneasily. The carriages began to drop away, leaving the streets almost empty.

I pulled my arm away from Eilian's and faced him. "You do know that you're digging a bigger hole than we're already in, right?"

He glared at me, and I tried extremely hard not to flinch. He knew I was right. And he knew not to argue with me like he'd done with Abberline. He was dealing with someone who was a master at psychological warfare. Over the time that I'd known him, that I'd been with him, I'd learnt that he didn't like it when I stood up to him. And that's what I was going to do.

He went to say something, but decided against it.

"You seriously need to get a handle on your temper, Eilian," I reprimanded. "Your sacrificing our cover here, one we've spent months establishing. Don't blow it for us now."

He wouldn't look at me. He knew I was right. The way we were tackling this period was procedure, we did it with every period we entered hunting for the Shards. He was really risking it this time.

"Look," I began, massaging the bridge of my nose. "We just need to find the Shard and then get going. We're not allowed to get directly involved here. It's a set time. They're never going to find Jack, and we can't help them find him."

Eilian knew it as much as I did. If we messed up this time, the amount of paradoxes and disturbances in the stream that we'd cause would be catastrophic. We couldn't take the risk. The only reason we were in 1888 was to find the Shard, that was it. No spending time with Charles Dickens or telling Charles Darwin that he was right all along.

"Good thing I know where it is," Eilian grunted as he began to storm away, hands buried in his pockets.

My jaw dropped open. "Are you serious? This whole–"

"I didn't know where it was this whole time," he countered. I chased after him to walk with his large stride. "It just occurred to me as you were dragging me out."

"So where is it?"

"We need to go to Ripper Street."

"Rip–what? Why do we have to go there? The Shard wouldn't be there."

"Just trust me."

★    ★    ★

⌛ 1888

Buck's Row, alternatively named Ripper Street by much of the masses. Why? Because it was the site of the first Ripper murder; the slaying of middle aged Mary Ann Nichols. She was on her way home, and Jack struck, killing the poor woman in cold blood. Many people avoided the place like the plague. People were afraid of it. Some say that you could still see speckles of Mary's blood on the pavement where she was grotesquely put on display.

I stood, leaning on one leg and arms crossed, in the middle of the road as Eilian paced in front of me. I had no idea what he was doing. I just watched him raise his hand and backtrack, then hold one out to the side and side-stepped, and then crouch in front of me with his hand on the road.

"Should I even bother asking what exactly you are doing?" I wondered.

He didn't reply. He stood and turned to a nearby dark alleyway. He pointed to it. "That way."

I turned to it. It was a narrow passage, dark and decrepit, with a small opening of warm light at the very end. "So you've done your witch doctor dance and now you magically know where we're going?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and walk."

He still had his mood, and it was beginning to rub off on me. I didn't understand what he was so irritated about. We were closer to finding the Shard and then we were gone. What more could he want? He didn't have to clash with Abberline anymore. He could go and walk with the dinosaurs if he wanted to, I didn't care.

It was getting to the point that I couldn't carry both of us anymore. We had something. We had something that I wanted to keep. But, the longer we spent here, the more our relationship began to crumble; with him arguing with the coppers, drinking at the pub, spending time at the brothel. The longer...we spent together, more our relationship began to fall apart.

I walked up to his face. "Fine." I pushed past him and headed into the narrow alleyway.

The walls were slimy and wet and muddy. The smell was disgusting, like someone had relieved themselves in the worst possible way. My boots stepped in sludge that made a squishy sound. I felt Eilian's warm breath on the back of my neck as we shimmied through the passageway. It was so narrow that my shoulders brushed the walls, forcing Eilian behind me to move sideways or get stuck. If we were to get chased by something, the level of being screwed would be high.

When I pushed out of the end of the passageway, it was like breathing air for the first time. I brushed the shoulders of my coat, mud sticking to my hands. Then I realised where we were, and I immediately wanted to return to the dark passage.

I sent Eilian a glare. "You've got to be kidding me. You're kidding, right? You have to be."

"That's where the Shard is, Andi," he replied. "Whether you like it or not, we're going in."

There was no way in hell that I was going to casually stroll into that place, ask for the circular object in question, and waltz out.

"Besides," Eilian said, "I have a plan."

"And I'm going to hate it."

Eilian took off towards the building, leaving me in front of the alleyway. And when he returned, I knew then and there that I was definitely going to hate the plan.

He held up the outfit. "Well. What are you waiting for?"

I snarled like an angry dog and snatched it from him. "This better be worth it."

"It will be."

★    ★    ★

⌛ 1888

Eilian and I strolled up to the entrance of the building, lampposts burning brightly and warmly, welcoming...somewhat.

A young woman in a similar outfit as me welcomed us at the door. She smiled warmly. "Welcome to the Red Lantern House. Lady Dahlia hopes you–"

"Elliott Eames."

I gazed up at the top of the stairs directly in front of us. A beautiful woman in a red gown, her blonde hair tied up high and blue eyes glued to my partner, glided gracefully down the stairs.

"Lady Dahlia Black," Elian greeted, slipping his arm out of mine to greet her.

I wasn't the jealous type. It was our job to blend into the periods we entered, so it was vital to create bonds to work off of. But I felt like there was some...history there. A bond that went deeper than meeting her over the months we'd been here. So was I suspicious? Oh, definitely. Was I jealous? Uh...debatable; you make your own opinion on that.

Lady Dahlia pecked Eilian on the cheek and he politely kissed her hand. The woman smiled. "It's been a while."

"Indeed it has," he replied. "Your business seems to be blooming."

"Indeed it has." And then her eyes rested on me, sending a chill down my spine. "And who is this?"

"This is Ada," Eilian introduced, grabbing my wrist and roughly yanking me forth. "She needs employment. Since you're such a lovely employer and take good care of your girls, I thought I'd offer my own."

Her friendly demeanor vanished and was replaced with one of a farmer inspecting his stock. It was like getting stared down by the evil stepmother from those fairy tales.

She was most certainly thorough with her inspection; she lifted my arms, grabbed my chin and examined the sides of my face, ran her fingers through my hair, inspected my figure, and even had a look at things that I was definitely uncomfortable her investigating.

She twirled my hair in her fingers. "I've never had a redhead in my company before. You would be a popular one. How much experience do you have, girl?"

"I've worked at two houses before this," I lied. "The first for three years and the second for two."

"And why did you leave?"

"No security or protection, miss. Men were rough, and not in the way that girls like us like."

She turned her nose up at me, carefully thinking about her decision. And then she turned to Eilian. "Can you testify that she is good enough to work for me?"

"I can," he replied simply. "She's good enough."

She turned back to me. "We shall see." She snapped her fingers at a nearby girl with dark hair and bright eyes wearing an even more revealing outfit than mine.

"Yes, miss?" she asked politely after curtsying.

"Show Ada the ropes." She gestured Eilian to follow her. "And find her a customer."

Without even giving me the usual supportive smile, Eilian turned his back on me and followed Dahlia away. Even though I was undercover and he'd helped me establish said cover, I couldn't help but feel...angry. Betrayed. The worst possible thing was that he told that woman about...us. Our personal times together that was between us and only us.

"Come along," the girl said, gently pulling me from my arm.

We scaled the stairs, passing other prostitutes dragging drunken men into rooms. We veered right and down a long corridor with doors on either side. She took me to the last room at the end.

"This is your room," she said, directing me into a simple bedroom with a queen size bed, a dresser, and two end tables on each side. It wasn't a cozy place, but I never really expected it to.

"I'll send up a customer for you," the girl said. "The Miss only accepts decent gentlemen into our house. You won't have to worry about bad men looking for business."

"Thanks, uh..."

"Mary. Mary Jane Kelly."

I knew the name. I never thought I'd actually meet her. "Mary."

"Don't worry." She smiled. "Girls like you and me won't be in this business forever. I'm going to be a someone one day, when I have the money." She sighed dreamily. "Then I can go to America."

I swallowed. She had such a bright smile. In a matter of months, she was going to lose it. She would never make it to America.

I smiled shakily. "I hope you get there, Mary."

"Have a good night!" she beamed. "And remember: if the gentleman's an ass, don't do him. You'll be safer that way."

And with that she closed the door, leaving me alone.

I sat on the bed and sighed dejectedly. I was worried about what was going to happen next. It wasn't like I hadn't played this role before. I was once I slave for pleasure. I was worried because...because of Eilian. Because what I had with him. As much as I tried not to, I did care about what we had. He may not, but I did.

The door swung open, and I sprung to me feet. A man swaggered in with a pot belly and greasy black hair. He grinned, his teeth yellow and rotten.

"'Ello, girly," he said, a whistling sound mingled with the words to missing teeth.

I swallowed, trying hard not to be disgusted and, more petrifyingly, afraid. I just hoped that Eilian hurried up and find the Shard. The last thing I wanted was this grease monkey...well, I didn't want to think about what he was going to do.

He lumbered towards me like a bear, everything jiggling as his heavy boots pounded the floorboards. I screamed with all my being to stand still and not flinch. I didn't look at him as he played with my hair, bringing it up to his nose and sniffing it.

"You smell nice," he moaned. I shivered as his hands slid down my side to rest low on my waist. "You feel nice too."

He shoved me onto the bed and climbed on top of me. A small whimper escaped my lips as he moaned. "I've never screwed a redhead before."

I closed my eyes as he began to strip. I prayed to any god that was listening to save me. To pull me away from this situation.

Just as the greasy bear was about to lower on top of me, hands wrapped around his chest and ripped him off me, throwing him into the dresser. Eilian stood before me, Shard in hand and the other outstretched. "Come on."

I took his hand and he gave me the Shard, using his free hand to create a portal, and we jumped through, leaving Victorian London behind.

The first things that hit me after leaving the portal was the bone-chilling coldness, whipping winds, and the smell of the sea. I wrapped my arms around myself as if that would stop me from shivering; it wasn't working. I didn't realise that the Shard had been snatched from my hand during the jump.

I turned to face Eilian, who was standing a few yards away from me. I felt an air of standoffishness waft off him, and I got a bad feeling. His expression was completely blank, revealing nothing of what ideas where swirling around in that head of his.

"Eilian?"

"I'm sorry, Andi," he said simply.

"Sorry? W-What are you going on about?"

"This isn't working. Us being together, I mean. It...we're a time bomb. We're too dangerous together."

I shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold. "Eilian, you're scaring me. What are you talking about?"

"There's a Shard here and there's another in the Tudor times. And then there are another four left to go. It'll take too long moving together."

And then I realised that I didn't have my watch. My outfit was too revealing for a place to keep it that...that I had to give it to him to look after.

And now I was angry. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to abandon me. With him having my watch, I couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do anything.

"You leave me here, Eilian, and I'll come after you," I growled threateningly. "You can bet on that."

He shook his head slowly in guilt. "Andi–"

"Don't you dare 'Andi' me!" I snarled. "I have stood by you! And all you've given back to me is the cold shoulder and mistreatment! Everything I've done for you and this is how you repay me?! By abandoning me here?!"

"We have a mission to complete!" he roared back. "Divide and conquer! That's the only way we can finish this! If you are going to sacrifice our mission for us, then I'm going to end it now!" He pulled a look that actually scared me. "This is over." He threw my watch at me, it landing in the thin snow before me. "We're done."

I looked down at the gold in the snow. Everything bubbled to the surface, everything I was keeping within me and everything that I've had to deal with for the past few months. For the whole time I'd been a Time Walker.

"Find the Shard here," he ordered, "find the Shard in 1562." He turned to leave.

"I hate you!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks. "You may have been the one to save me, but you are the one who destroyed me!"

He stood as still as a statue for more than ten seconds, then he opened a portal and walked through, it snapping shut behind him.

I fell to my knees. I screamed. I screamed at the top of my lungs, my pain and agony and loneliness and powerlessness roaring with me, making my world shake as if an earthquake had rocked it.

And then I scooped up my watch, ice and all, and held it close to my chest, and I wept.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there!

This was a hard chapter to write. It's been the longest I've written for this story and the longest I've written for a while. Hopefully it wasn't too...well, much. The thing with this series is that there's always a lot of unanswered questions (for a reason), especially regarding Eilian. So this chapter's for him.

This also marks the final chapter that'll be a flashback of Andi's past adventures with him. If you haven't connected the dots yet (or if you haven't read Out of Time), Andi mentions in the very first chapter of that she hates Vikings because she was stranded there by Eilian. With that said, everything has come full circle. Just thought that I'd explain this to those who haven't connected the dots and if you've forgotten what happened in the first story of this series...or if you're totally confused and you haven't read it.

Speaking of Out of Time, it has an epic poster! It's at the end of the story, so go to the end and check it out!

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a quick vote! Thanks for reading!