Word Count: 1571

~Time

I'm not sure how long I lay there.

Whatever poison she mustered, it's punishing. Days must have passed, and yet here I am, still lying upon her chair, bandages strewn across my bare chest. Not once, has this crazed lunatic returned, even to check on me. She's lucky I could lay here for centuries and not once even lose consciousness. But I'm bored...painfully bored. And angry.

Footsteps echo throughout the basement, light and quick. Raising my head, ignoring the way my neck aches in protest. Jennifer walks into the room, dressed neatly, hair pulled back into a bun. The rest I hardly pay attention to; she's hardly worthy of more than a brief glance.

"Apologies about leaving you so long. I had business to attend to, people to correspond with," she comments, dumping a pile of paper on the bench near me.

I don't say anything.

"This is turning out to be more difficult than I intended. Here I was, thinking one of my professors would know how to return your powers. But no. So, you'll stay here, until I can figure how to return them, and take them as my own," she says, pressing her fingers into her temples, clearly bothered.

She only came down here to vent, or maybe have me slip up and give her an idea. It's a shame I don't know how to return my powers either. Which means, my past self is still with Rosie, doing who knows what with her. Just the thought...he could have hurt her, or worse, seduced her, and she will want to stay in that realm. It will destroy everything in the future, including me.

"You reallythink you can take my powers from me, even if you find a way to get them back?" I question, honestly more amused than angry.

She glares at me.

"You don't think my creator thought of foolish souls like you? I'm the only person on this very land who will ever be able to handle my powers without dying. Now take this bandages off me, and maybe I won't kill you," I say, hoping she will accept my offer without a second thought. Every word I say is true, but that doesn't mean she would believe me.

She steps forward, carrying that cloying scent I despise so much with her. Leaning over me, I ignore the brush of a few stray hairs against my face, even if I want to flinch. "I'll figure it out, even if it takes years, decades...centuries."

"Your mistake," I comment.

Jennifer rolls her eyes back, freezing on the spot. For a moment, I compare to every time I've been around her, experiencing that persistently irritable eye roll. Accept her eyes don't return, as she reaches up, digging into her hair. I'm stunned, as she screams, blood spilling from her nose and ears, before she collapses onto the ground in a heap.

As she falls, her murderer is revealed from behind her. Thought. He stands there, staring at the girl, no weapon in his hand, except black gloves clenched into a fist.

I eye him. "Classy, brother. How often do you use your mind powers to kill an innocent girl?"

His chest deflates, as he wipes his brow with the back of his hand. I know he's from the future, my era. He has those unkempt curls and doesn't pay mind to the fact he is wearing a shirt that shows his arms, which once we thin and sickly. A lot has changed. But that is hardly on my mind, considering the fact that he really shouldn't be here, thousands of years from where he should reside.

"She would have talked. I have to preserve my powers," he mutters. Stepping forward, he pulls the bandages from my body, and slowly, feeling returns to my body. I go to thank him, but I'm wary of his presence.

"Whose magic did you feed off to get here?" I question.

He turns away from me. "I've been here for a long while. I came to save Rosie, first. Then I was attacked and locked away. Eventually I mustered up enough of my powers to control the guards to unlock me, and now I am here."

Heaving myself out of the chair, I sway on my feet. "Why? You hate me. Why are you helping me, Thought? If you're here to steal my mate away, you should wait for your own."

"This isn't about me wanting Rosie. You know who I'm waiting for," he says through gritted teeth. I struck a nerve, as those silver eyes glint viciously. "I'm here because I had a vision, of you doing this. Of you endangering your mate. I had to come and fix things, purely out of conscience. Plus, I don't particularly want the future to burn because of your actions."

He tosses me a shirt that had been spread out on the bench, which I shoulder on quickly. Now that everything is over with the wrench who lies at my feet, I can fully concentrate on returning to Rosie, my mate.

I just hope she's okay.

***

~Rosie

"You need not shower me with gifts any longer."

Turning away from the mirror, I see Time standing by the door, holding something behind his back. He smiles, that guilty, boyish smile that warms my heart more than I would like to admit. Sauntering in the room, he pulls out a small box tied with a bow, placing it beside me on the vanity.

It's one of many gifts he keeps showering me, now that he knows I'm of value to him. Maybe he is guilty, for trapping me here, now that feelings have grown.

"I don't do it because I have to. I do it because I want to," he tells me, nudging it toward me with his knuckles, encouraging me to open it. I do so, only to appease him, pulling at this soft ribbon, opening the box by its lid. Inside, a glittering necklace, very subtle, very pretty. Time plucks it from its box, giving me little time to admire it before he places it around my neck, fiddling with the clasp for a moment.

It makes me look...magical.

"It's beautiful," I admit, touching it briefly. Against my thick, dark hair, it only appears more vibrant, practically bleeding wealth. "Why are you adorning me with gifts, when you should be returning me home. You promised, remember?"

Time cringes, as he kneels in front of where I sit, placing his hands on my thighs. "I've decided I want you to stay. Now I know you're worth it, I want some more time with you. Not too much longer, but enough to make me happy, to make me want to continue to be good. Promise me you'll stay, and we will try make this work for a few more weeks."

I flinch, at the seriousness of his tone, at the words he is setting in concrete the more he talks. He wants me to stay here, against every law of nature, against even my wishes.

Standing, I push away from him.

"No, we had a deal. I convinced you. You know now what is in your future, so please, give me back," I say, practically pleading with him. Time gets to his feet, golden eyes flashing with hurt, pain, betrayal. Did he truly think I would agree? That I would give up everything to stay here with him, when he has my real mate from my true era locked who knows where, alone without his powers.

"Rosie...I'm not taking you back. Remain here with me, and I will give you all the gifts possible, take you wherever you please," Time tells me, reaching for my hands. I let him wrap his fingers around mine, to shake me slightly, as if I'm senseless.

I shake my head at him. "The take me back."

Time's shoulders slump, as he sees how serious I am. Pulling away from me, he paces back and forth. One moment we were okay, and now, everything is crumbling around me.

"I'm not taking you back," he tells me, his tone quivering, but it's serious.

"Then don't. Keep me here and let me hate you. You're immature, for someone as old as you are now. You've only made me realise that people can change, and I want the Time from the future over you, as you are now," I say, my voice raising to the point it almost hurts my throat.

Time's expression morphs into one of sadness, then suddenly anger. Just as he was about to act upon it, someone walks through the door, followed by another. I'm too shocked to react right away, as I'm staring at my mate. My real mate.

"Think we arrived at an ideal time," he comments.

Thought comes out from behind Time, immediately grabbing for him. Everything happens in a flurry, as he is dragged from the room, and I'm left utterly speechless.

I think this is over. But as I stare at my mate, it feel as though it might have just begun.

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