Donna’s face looked pained.
“What do you mean Liz went to the future?” she asked.
She had a feeling things were not exactly over, but she didn’t expect the situation to get more complicated.
“The future. Like, literally. And she’s never been that far ahead,” said Jess.
“A new fixed timeline is being written,” said Brenda.
“Which is why your time sense is blank,” said Jess.
“Time is sort of resetting,” said Brenda.
“You’ll start sensing things shortly,” said Jess.
“Full on this time now that Lizzie isn't blocking,” said Brenda.
“Which means you won’t be blinded,” said Jess.
“But you still might be locked,” said Brenda.
“But not right away,” said Jess.
“One at a time, please,” said Donna, shaking her head.
“Sorry,” they replied in unison.
“I thought our timeline was fixed,” said Donna.
“It was… mostly,” said Jess.
“Up till this point,” said Brenda.
“The point when the causal loop re-enters the timeline can’t be changed. But there was still some wiggle room on what form it took when it gets there,” said Jess.
“Leah had been dictating its form,” said Brenda.
“A form she thought was fixed because of what she saw in the memories of you and Lizzie. Sarah managed to put us on a different path so things are taking a bit to readjust,” said Jess.
“Huh,” said Donna.
She was never certain as to what was going to happen between Leah and me. But she knew I’d make it out. Beyond that she could not see or feel us reuniting any time after. And Donna certainly did not know that time was still malleable enough to shape.
“Do you know what happens in this new timeline?” she asked.
“We don’t know. Sorry,” said Brenda.
Donna raised a suspicious eyebrow.
“Jeez, your BS detector even works on the ethereal?” asked Jess.
“So you do know,” said Donna.
“Well, sort of. Mostly. Just the broad strokes.” said Jess.
“We still can’t tell you, though,” said Brenda.
“Time and reality is at stake and all that,” said Jess.
“You’re doing it again,” said Donna.
“Sorry.” they replied.
“It’s a delicate long game,” said Jess.
“And we have a lot of work to do while Lizzie isn’t looking,” said Brenda.
“What kind of work?” Donna asked suspiciously.
“The ‘we can’t tell you’ kind of work,” said Brenda with a big smile on her face.
Donna’s head tilted slightly and her eyes narrowed.
“You two still aren’t tell me something.” she said.
Brenda and Jess suddenly looked nervous and stole glances at each other.
“Spill it.” Donna commanded.
“You can’t order us around now.” said Jess.
“You can’t even touch us.” said Brenda.
“Spill. Now.” said Donna sternly.
There was a moment of silence while Brenda and Jess tried to deal with the fact that Donna still intimidated them even though they now were on a different plane of existence.
“Fuck.” they said in unison.
“We know how your time sense works.” said Jess.
“We know how seeing the future works in general. For you and Elizabeth. As in how it affects the future.” said Brenda.
They looked uneasy. Donna let out a sigh.
“I increase the probability of timelines happening by observing them. Don’t I?” said Donna.
“It is more nuanced than that, but yeah.” said Jess.
“And the nuance is key.” said Brenda.
“Lizzie is making some things a certainty by going to the future, but you are also part of the equation.” said Jess.
“Both of you are writing the future by just existing.” said Brenda.
“And I have not made my choices yet.” said Donna.
“Giving us the ability to shape the reality Lizzie is jumping into when she reenters the timeline.” said Jess.
Donna’s body recoiled back slightly.
“What do you mean by shape reality?” she asked.
Brenda punched Jess in the arm.
“TMI.” said Brenda.
“Shit. Look, it’s going to be really difficult and kind of sketchy,” said Jess.
“A lot of sketchy. To be fair,” said Brenda.
“Okay, a lot. And we have to play it perfectly. Just trust us,” said Jess.
Donna did thrust them. She could feel that this was the path with the best outcome.
“Nothing is ever easy for us, is it?” she asked.
“Nope,” they said in unison.
“Will you two be with me?” asked Donna.
“In spirit only,” said Jess.
“For a long time it will be that way,” said Brenda
“We won’t see you until the very end,” said Jess.
“What about Sarah?” Donna asked, hopefully. “I still can’t sense her in front of me.”
“You have a very long road to travel,” said Jess.
“The longest road of all of us,” said Brenda.
Then they vanished.
“Seriously? What the hell? That’s it?” asked Donna.
She pounded her fists into the ground.
“You two are so annoying!” she shouted.
Donna pushed herself up under the bridge as far as she could, closed her eyes, and covered her ears with her hands. There was a bright flash of light, a deafening sound, and the ground shook. She braced herself for the shock wave and reminded herself to breathe when it finally passed. When it was over, Donna could feel time reorienting itself. It felt strange. She could feel the paths again but this time it was different. Just as before, closer things were clearer, but now she could feel everything. She realized living with the gaps in her vision had been like breathing through a straw. Now she could breathe it all in. It was like seeing the world in color for the first time.
She could sense time expanding in front of her. As it progressed, new decisions would forge new possibilities. She hesitated to even peak at what was ahead. Even a glance would solidify some events. But fate wasn’t just in her hands alone. Far ahead in the distance there was something pulling everything in. A new convergence was forming. Maybe it was always there, waiting for time to catch up. Donna got up and walked up to the road. She stepped on the asphalt and stood on the yellow line separating the lanes of traffic. Then she closed her eyes. In her mind she turned away from the streams of time that were pulling at her.
For the first time in a long time, she was free to choose. Many paths lay ahead but she could boil it down to two moving forward. Stepping to the left of the yellow line was freedom. It was a life that could be happy but would one day end with the rest of the world. To the right was a very long life of struggle. But humanity would live on. Either way, the fate of the human race again rested on her shoulders. Donna desperately wanted a life for herself but wondered if she could resist the calls of those who would need her. She opened her eyes and stared down the road ahead. When she stepped forward a new future took form.
Back in the dry lake where Morden’s facility once stood, the intense heat had vaporized the entire complex and all the bodies left behind. The blast scattered the atoms to the winds. I found myself standing at the bottom of a crater, in a clearing cloud of dust. I almost laughed in disbelief. I didn’t die, I didn’t have to kill Leah, and most importantly, my clothes were still intact. I didn’t know where exactly I stood with my faith, but there was a lot to be thankful for. I turned to the East, got on my knees, and began praying. As I felt the sun on me, I could still feel Leah trying to break free. My precious other held her back and was doing her best to calm the girl. It would take a very long time to talk Leah down. We both knew what had to happen. I touched my forehead to the ground and when I was back upright I felt my density increase. My clothes and skin turned to black stone.
People came to investigate the explosion. They found the crater and what looked like a stone statue in the middle that was too heavy to move and incapable of being damaged. Time would pass. The crater and the statue became a curiosity. Some came to see it as a sign from God. Some thought I was a god. People are strange. In the end Sahar and I would endure safeguarding a little girl from the world, and protecting the world from a little girl. None of us were abandoned. None of us would be alone.201Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFo8YgNkRm
