TIME & TIED: ESCALATION

ARC 2.3 - To the Past

PART 39b: RECOVERY MODE 2

“How is Carrie?"

"No change," Luci sighed as she approached him. "Though that does mean no worse. Any sign of Lee yet?"

"Nope," Clarke replied, turning to glance around the main area of the hospital. "But this is where we agreed to meet, so I figure he should be along any minute."

Luci nodded, turning to look around herself. She frowned. Then took a step back to lean against the wall.

"You know Luci, I'm sure Carrie will pull through," Clarke offered up. "She has that sort of personality."

Luci looked up at the tall blonde again. "Hm?"

"You're looking worried," Clarke said. "I'm assuming it has to do with Carrie's condition?”

"Oh! Right. Except no. That is..." Luci pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m worried about Carrie, but I have some other things on my mind today too."

Clarke cocked his head to the side. "You mean like whether we're going to be able to pull off this whole rescue operation?"

“Yeah..." Luci paused, then reached out to grab Clarke’s shoulder, maneuvering him away from the people nearby. “Maybe I need to talk to someone who’s not Frank,” she decided, glancing briefly back over her shoulder before looking up to meet his gaze. “Clarke - are we doing the right thing here?”

Clarke frowned. "You don't think we should save Julie?"

"Oh no, it’s not that," Luci corrected with an immediate shake of her head. "Not even Julie deserved to die this way. It's more... what if we're all being manipulated into doing it?”

"Manipulated?" Clarke repeated back, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly. Think about it," Luci continued quietly. "This ‘Shady’ guy who spoke to Frank may now be manipulating things - by staying out of them.”

“I... think you already lost me.”

“When Carrie first got her hands on the time machine, Shady didn’t step in with any tips, or helpful pieces of information,” Luci elaborated. “Carrie had carte blanche to do as she liked. Then after she was shot, okay, he made the one call to Frank, but otherwise he has done nothing. This, despite his apparent power to “push” his will onto others. Now, Frank thinks it’s because Shady likes free will, but what if Shady’s been employing some sort of reverse psychology? Maybe he’s the one behind everything, and by trying to save Julie, we’ll end up playing right into his hands.”

She fell silent. Clarke seemed to consider her argument. “Except,” he reasoned, “by that logic, we'd have to second guess everything we do. And even then, if other people are second guessing our second guessing... well, er, it's all kinda pointless in the end. Right, Luci?”

“I... guess?" Luci wrung her hands in the air. “Yet I’M the one who insisted to Frank that he wait on calling the police - and I can’t even go on the time trip we’re all organizing. So what if I’ve made a mistake? Like I did with Carrie’s personality and Julie’s reactions and what if Frank gets HURT, all because of my stubborn resolve??” She dropped her eyes to the ground. "I know, I know. Silly thing to worry about."

Clarke reached out to place a hand on Luci's shoulder. "Hey, it's not silly at all," he reassured. "In fact, you’re finally making more sense. I’m thinking you’re not used to being wrong much?”

Luci flinched. “I... it’s atypical, yes.”

“Me, I’m wrong a lot,” Clarke said easily. “And usually, it’s not a big deal, so I keep trying - or if it’s real important, and I’m not sure? That’s when I rely on others to take care of it for me. Heck, sometimes, to score the basket, you have to know when to pass the ball.” He smiled, and patted her shoulder. “Don’t second guess yourself, Luci. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure Frank's kept safe for you."

Luci felt her cheeks getting warm again. “I-I’m not ONLY worried about him, y’know..."

"Whoa, there y'are," Lee said, choosing that moment to make his appearance. "Thought you'd be outside, but then I realized, wait, it is a bit cold for that. Oh, hey short stuff, you involved in this with the high guy too?"

"So to speak," Luci said. Her attention was immediately drawn to the device in Lee's hands. "So you DO have it," she breathed.

Lee held out the black box. "Yeah, this what you were looking for?"

"That's it," Clarke confirmed off of Luci’s reaction. She accepted the device, turning it around in her hands a few times. She tried pushing and then pulling on the lever, but nothing happened.

"As I said, it's broken," Lee noted.

Clarke nodded. “That’s fine. You want to come with us then? The truth about all this might blow your mind.”

***

“I can’t,” Lee apologized to them. "Family errand stuff at the pharmacy. Can we delay the big scoop 'till tomorrow? Or whenever's convenient for you?"

He watched as Clarke turned to Luci, who shrugged. “We probably don’t need Lee,” she admitted. “But then who knows what we'll find in this thing.”

"I will be working at the library on Sunday,” Lee reminded them. "So you can find me there if you have questions.”

"Okay then," Clarke said, reaching out to shake his hand. "Thanks very much."

“Hope you save those lives you were talking about," Lee said, shaking back and flashing them both a grin.

"Come on Clarke, let's get this back to Frank's," Luci said, already moving off. "Time is of the essence." Clarke nodded, and the two of them turned to leave the hospital.

Lee watched them go, wondering even more now about this whole affair - but family came first. More to the point, he had to think of a good way of talking to Faye, once he got home.

How was he supposed to explain to her that it wasn't their mother's fault dad didn't visit more often? The man had been trying to distance himself from the family ever since Soh, the fourth King child had been born... but Faye couldn’t see it.

Lee shook his head and walked for the hospital exit. And stopped. Something had caught his eye. He scanned back over the crowd inside the waiting area a bit more closely, his gaze finally settling on a man who was sitting near the door. His quarry immediately pulled his newspaper back up in front of his face, but not before Lee got a good look.

'That was the same guy from the library,’ Lee realized. ‘The weird cultist who wanted that information on the LaMilles. Huh, so he can dress normal. But why would he be hanging around the hospital now? Is it related to Clarke and Tim... and that box?'

Lee pretended to scan the area a bit more, then shrugged and turned away, hoping to present the illusion that he hadn’t seen whatever he’d been looking for.

‘I’ll mention this to one of those guys the next time I see them,' Lee decided. ‘Because I’m starting to understand what they mean by this being a big deal...’

***

Frank rubbed the side of his head. "So, you all want the good news, or the bad news?" he asked. All the teens that Chartreuse had once dubbed ‘time trippers’ had gathered back in his basement lab, where they had finally managed to pry the lid off the time machine with a crowbar.

"Let's have the good news," Clarke said. "About time we had some."

"Well," Frank began, looking up from his inspection. "I should be able to reconnect the lever mechanism to the top panel, making the time machine physically functional again."

"A-And... the bad news?" Tim asked.

"With regard to actually activating it, there's a couple of rather important circuits missing. Now, I THINK we can replace them too, the same way we did in October..." Frank let out a long breath. “Except the information for doing it was on those sheets of paper Julie grabbed before she left. So we’ll be working from memory."

"You think Julie took out those circuits on purpose?" Luci speculated. Frank could only shrug.

"Then of course there's the WORSE news, which is that Corry's not going to let Laurie come quietly," Chartreuse moaned. "I'm SO sorry about him finding out, guys. Though, you know, even I'm starting to have second thoughts about Laurie's participation."

"Our work is cut out for us," Frank said dryly. He cracked his knuckles. “But it’s still Saturday night. We have twenty four hours. So, unless any of you think you'll be able to assist with repairs on the machine? It's best for you - and your families - that you go home, and get some sleep. I'll do what I can overnight, while you all think about Corry. We can regroup tomorrow."

“I’m staying,” Luci asserted. She continued on before Frank had a chance to protest. "Since I CAN assist with repairs, and more to the point, you'll need to get some sleep tonight yourself, Frank. Don't want you traveling into the past tomorrow night without having slept."

“I guess,” Frank yielded. "Okay. Let’s meet back here tomorrow at noon. Alternatively, if you have any new ideas, or me and Luci make better time on the repairs, we can get in touch.”

The matter was settled shortly thereafter. Not only at Frank’s house, but also in a discussion taking place at the Veniti residence.