We'll Meet Again (Original Book)

|18| Turn of Events

Tedric watched it all. He went back in time; on that specific night she met Charles in that old hospital. He followed her all the way up to the third floor and he watched the entire scene unfold right in front of his eyes. It had taken all of his self-restraint not to intervene and split the timeline. How Charles pointed his gun at her and threatened to kill her, or the way Charles looked at her when she finally turned to face him. Charles looked at her with such longing - it only made Tedric clench his fists and bite back any urge to intervene.

He was there to find out where Malcolm had taken her. He wasn't there to ruin things and disrupt the timeline. Both Nathalie and Charles had noticed that that they were being watched, but they couldn't see him. No one could see Tedric being there unless he willed it. It was part of his ability because he wasn't meant to be there. That scene had played out already without him being there, but his silent presence did not change the outcome and therefore he wasn't creating any issues by just watching what had transpired. So long as he did not intervene, their timeline would remain intact.

It was especially hard not to intervene when Malcolm snuck behind her and drugged her, but despite it, Nathalie had to get on with her plan. She rushed at Charles and stabbed her own syringe to his chest, but despite that, Charles still caught her. He caught her to keep her gradually weakening body from dropping on the floor. He held her tight.

That scene was doing nothing to appease his anger, but Tedric had to compose himself. Whatever Charles was thinking, Nathalie Burgess was his. Tedric was going to rescue her, and he was going to protect her no matter what.

Once the police dragged Charles away, Malcolm picked Nathalie up and took her downstairs to his own car. Tedric followed him. Malcolm did not drive away. He waited for the police to leave before he met with someone. It was another man, concealing his face with a fedora hat and his black coat. He handed Malcolm a piece of paper and he walked away with a nod. Malcolm read the paper. It only had two words on it.

Project Vermillion.

Tedric had heard of something similar before. Vermillion was in other words mercury sulphide – a form of mercury found naturally as a deep red dust. Tedric had seen Malcolm in the other universes as well. In most of them, he would work on his own research which was always something that strayed far from morality. There was a universe where he had been hired by the government to create superhuman beings using a deep red serum that he had created himself.

Was that what was going on here too?

If that was the case, there was no way to find the base that Malcolm was about to head off to. Tedric couldn't follow him without risking the disruption of the timeline. He could hide himself, but he could not hide a lifeless vehicle, and he needed one should he follow the insane old man. He just watched Malcolm's car disappear in the distance. Maybe if he asked help from the Burgesses, they would figure out where that base was. Maybe their advanced technology could help locate it.

Jocasta had been waiting for him when he returned, two days later, in her lab beneath the police station. It had felt like mere seconds for her, but it had been more than a few hours for him.

"So? Did you find out where he took her?" Jocasta abandoned whatever she had been doing and she rushed to him.

"No, but I got a clue," Tedric said and looked at her. "Malcolm is conducting something called Project Vermillion in some secret base."

"CIA?" Jocasta asked and Tedric nodded.

"Possibly."

"I'll see if I can access any files in our archives," Jocasta took off her lab-coat and made her way to the door to exit the morgue. "In the meantime, try asking my father. He'll know."