Cogs Of Fate

Corridors of Time

Tenley excused herself before the interrogation began. Her mind continued to wander back to Charlotte and she worried about the woman's health. It was clear to anyone who looked upon the frail woman that her time was nigh. The doctor still had questions that needed to be answered but her priority would be to make sure the old woman survived the night.

As Tenley rounded the corner, nearing the door to the infirmary, she heard footsteps behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted Rowan and paused at the door to the infirmary to give him a chance to catch up. "How are you feeling?" she asked, motioning vaguely toward his head before entering the infirmary.

Rowan followed her. "It hurts but I'll be fine."

She furrowed her brow at him. "Do you want something for the pain?" He shook his head. She paused mid-step, watching him for a moment. "What's going on, Rowan?"

His eyes darted about the empty infirmary. "I wanted to ask ye something."

Tenley stepped closer, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay..."

He licked his lips before retrieving a folded piece of paper from his pocket. As he opened it, he asked, "Do ye recognize these two?"

Tenley's eyes dropped to the paper outstretched towards her. Grabbing it, she examined the drawing on the page. The ink strokes were deliberate and rushed but the image showed a woman looking out of the time machine into a dark ocean cove with two men in suits, carrying guns running in.

"Where did you get this?" Tenley asked, lifting her surprised gaze to meet him.

"Ye recognize it?"

"Uh, yeah," she confessed, dropping her gaze back to the drawing. "This was the last thing I saw before we returned from our mission in 1781."

"Did ye recognize the men?" he asked, studying her face carefully.

She thought back over the encounter, blinking back to the present. "They seemed familiar but..." she shook her head, "I couldn't tell you why - "

He stood straighter, glancing behind her before suggesting, "Think back to when ye were Amy." Tenley's brows drew together, head cocking to the side as she tried to remember those days. He saw she wasn't reaching the memory quickly enough for his preference, so he asked, "Do ye remember our mission to 1931?"

Tenley blinked at him. "1931?" her face contorted for a moment as she strained to recall the specifics, "the one with the horse?"

Rowan nodded. "Do ye remember the two we worked with on that mission?" Tenley's eyes darted back and forth in thought before they widened and her mouth fell agape. Her eyes dropped to the page in her hand as he asked, "Are they the same?"

"Yeah," she said, scoffing, "How did I miss that?"

"Well," Rowan began, "Ye had a lot on yer plate lately..."

She shook her head, holding the drawing up. "I didn't tell the others that I sort of recognized them..." she sighed asking, "Is that why they didn't shoot at me when they came into the cove that night?"

He studied her face, a seriousness washing over his features. "They didn't?" She shook her head and he blew a short laugh from his lips, running the tip of his thumb across his brow. "Of course not..."

"What's going on?" she asked. "What is it?"

"They must have merged," he simply said with a small disbelieving chuckle.

Tenley blinked at him. "Who merged?" she shook her head confused, "What are you talking about?"

Rowan didn't explain right away as he ran a hand across his jaw in thought. "We always knew that was a possibility," he muttered, "We just didn't think it would have happened this soon - "