Threading the Timelines

Chapter Three

Jiya woke up in a panic, scattering a messy stack of papers and pens when she sat bolt upright, still in front of the computer. So much to do. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and felt the creases on her cheeks from passing out on her arms. She jiggled the mouse to rouse the computer, the math from last night flashing onto the screen. She'd studied the equations until they appeared double, until her eyes closed out of necessity.

What time was it? How long had she wasted? 7:23 am. She'd really only been unconscious for three hours, but it felt like a lifetime. She had to save Rufus. Her life stalled without him. She knew she should actually sleep, but couldn't bring herself to go back to the room they'd been sharing as of late. The cavern in her chest reopened and she bent over clutching her middle as if she could hold it all in.

No. She absolutely could not fall apart, too much depended on her. She shoved away from the desk, scraping the metal legs in a screech, and stalked into the kitchen. Coffee. Coffee would make it better. She needed to focus. Grabbing the grounds, she poured them into a filter without a thought to how much she used. She snatched a random mug off the shelf and focused on pulling herself together. As Jiya turned around to face the room she saw a leg sticking up from the uncomfortable brown couch.

Mason. She grabbed a second cup.

When the pot finished brewing, she poured two cups, cream and sugar for Mason, black for her, and moved into the living room. She knew the older man wouldn't leave her side until Rufus was back with them in the bunker where he belonged.

He woke when the smell of the coffee reached him, blinking several times before focusing on Jiya.

"Did you sleep at all?" he asked as he sat up, reaching for the mug.

"A little. Not much." She set down her cup and tied her hair into a messy bun. They sat for a bit, drinking their coffee, waking up. "I'm stuck on this one set of equations."

Mason refocused on the present mid-sip. "Want me to take a gander?"

"Please. A fresh set of eyes would help. It's the ultrasonic waves. I can't figure out how to alter the frequency. How does the universe interpret us? What makes me me? Rufus got us so close." Another emotional shockwave rolled over her. No crying, not yet. "What if I can't do this? I'm no Rufus, he's been working with time travel for years, I've only ever been backup."

The crumpled and exhausted man bent one leg up onto the couch and turned to the dark haired woman holding back a tornado of anguish.

"You've always been far more than backup, Jiya. There's never been one day since you came into this crazy world of ours that you haven't been necessary. You catch things others don't. You see the missing pieces that fill in the cracks." He scooted over so he could touch her hand. "You are innocent and kind and brilliant, and the team might have failed so many times without you here."

A tear fell without permission. "Thank you, Mason. I know how much Rufus means to you." She scrubbed at her eyes, refusing to break. "I'm so afraid I won't be able to solve this without him and he'll be lost forever. I can't allow that. I just can't."

"Which is why you will. Solve this, I mean. I've watched you guys work together for years. You balance each other. You two are equal parts pop culture references and science. You communicate in numbers and fiction. You are his anchor in reality while he traverses the past, always bringing him and the team back home. You have his numbers, now you be you and fill in the rest."

Jiya closed the short distance between them and hugged him. "Should we do this then?"

~*~*~*~

Wyatt glared at the ceiling and replayed his time with Jessica since Rittenhouse brought her back from the dead, reexamining their interactions through the lens of Jessica's betrayal. As a soldier, he knew the value of sleep. He got a solid 4 hours. It would suffice. All of this was related, he knew it and that took precedence. Something didn't add up. Not the fact that he'd been fooled, the reason for that was obvious enough. The love of his life came back. Not even Lucy could stop him from blundering right into that situation.