Then There Was The Three Of Them // JENLISA

Chapter 3 Part II

a/n: it's part two! well, this was supposed to be a lot shorter but i kind of got carried away lol, stay healthy internet friends <3

"Fine," Lisa concedes and slumps on her seat, maybe she really was being a brat, "Now what?" she asks timidly, suddenly a bit embarrassed.

Jennie inhales extensively before responding. She looks about done with Lisa, and the latter couldn't really blame her for that. She was being a brat. Lisa couldn't believe it.

"It's important to know how this time travel works so we can avoid messing up the timeline. I mean, even though the future can't be affected, we could accidentally destabilize the wormhole they use to travel to different timelines and this could be catastrophic on both sides to which these wormholes are connected-- it would be a domino effect from there, affecting other timelines. It's-- it's not something we want to happen."

Lisa sighs at what seemed like the never-ending complexity of science, but she has to admit that what Jennie has just said stirred up something uneasy inside her. Like what they are dealing with is something delicate but fatal.

"Okay, well," Lisa smacks her lips, trying to turn the gears inside her mind. "What about protocols? Do you have them? I'm sure something this big would have those."

"We talked about it earlier, but we couldn't go into details since I had to go to work." Jennie bites her lip and looks at Lisa.

Her look wasn't assuming, there was only honesty and concern. But Lisa couldn't help the guilt that hits her when Jennie directed the words at her. She knows there wasn't a double meaning to what she has said, it was only Lisa who suddenly thought of how she handled the predicament.

Of how she left Jennie alone to deal with the kid and the whole turmoil that came with it.

Lisa swallows a lump in her throat trying to ignore the shame that's settling in her gut.

"That was really all I know about protocols... Time travel isn't something that everyone can freely do-- it's like, you know, how only trained astronauts can go to space." Nicki fiddles with her fingers on the table. Lisa got a glimpse of the fear beneath all the pretense of boldness

"What was the protocol?" Lisa asked gently this time, feeling sympathy for the girl. But it was Jennie who answered for Nicki.

"Stand by."

"Oh," Lisa voiced out, a bit startled at the simplicity of it, "I mean, that's great! Then you'd stand by, wait for us-- future us to get you here."

Jennie appears to agree with her, nodding at Lisa and then turning once again to the girl. "I guess that's everything we can do for now." She clasps her hands together, and gestures between all three of them. 

"Maybe we could take precautions ourselves and keep this whole thing between the three of us-- if we can help it, that is. It's just to minimize the risk, but there shouldn't be a problem if one or two more would know."