TIME & TIED: DESTRUCTION

ARC 3.1 - With Chartreuse

PART 50a: CARRIE ON 1

“I called the cafe," Chartreuse said, re-entering her bedroom. "And there's, like, nothing out of the ordinary happening there. Totally no fires."

"I don't care. I know what I saw, Chartreuse,” Carrie finished off her glass of water. "There was smoke billowing out of the back and flames spreading into the dining area. I didn't simply imagine that.”

"I'm not saying you did," Chartreuse assured. "But is it possible you were no longer seeing the present, but some other time period?"

Carrie shook her head. "I don't see how. It’s not like I made an effort to leave the present.” She frowned. “Though now that you mention it, I didn’t see Frank and Luci any more."

“Cosmic forces can be kinda unpredictable," Chartreuse admitted. "I mean, I know your abilities aren’t really the same as mine, but there's probably similar rules that apply. I remember one time I wanted to learn the score of a football game at school, but when I tried to do a vision quest forwards I saw--"

"Chartreuse, I'm here so that I can gain control over my powers," Carrie snapped, cutting her off. "I'd rather not have you tell me they can't be controlled, all right?"

Chartreuse stopped. "I'm sorry,” she said softly. “I'm just telling you what I, you know, have discovered though my own experiences.”

Carrie pressed a hand to her forehead. "I know. I know, I... I'm the one who should be sorry, it's... look, maybe we should call it a day. All right? We'll pick things up again some time next week."

"If you think that's best?"

"I'm not sure what I think. All I know is I'm no longer in the mood to deal with this right now.” Carrie rose and marched for the bedroom door, only to stop and turn back. "Chartreuse, you were watching me the whole time I was in that vision, right? My eyes, they didn't turn golden at any point, did they?"

"Not that I saw, no."

The blonde let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. “Good. Good, okay. So, see you in school tomorrow then?”

Chartreuse nodded. "Of course. Here, let me at least come with you to the front door."

***

The next few days passed without incident – unless you counted Glen's continuing attempts at getting closer to Carrie. She discovered that even Phil Clarke had started taking notice of it, when he asked her about it over lunch that Friday. Carrie had decided to spend the time with him and Julie, to give Frank and Luci some time for themselves.

“Then you're sure it was Glen who left those flowers on your desk this morning?" the tall blonde inquired.

“Only origami flowers," Carrie clarified. "But yes, who else?"

"The origami looked pretty," Julie acknowledged, fingering the flower brooch she was wearing. “And it takes time to do something like that. Glen must really like you."

"I've been getting those vibes, believe me," Carrie sighed.

“But you don't like him?” Clarke wondered.

Carrie paused. “It’s not that,” she admitted. “I mean, I don’t dislike him, he's courteous and everything. There's just something about him."

“I bet he's trying too hard," Julie offered. "You never did like guys who came on too strong."

"Maybe," Carrie acknowledged. “But then, he backs off on request, he's never invaded my personal space, and heck, and it's not like I'm seeing anyone else."

"So you don't want to reject him, but you don't want to go out with him either?" Clarke said, looking confused.

Carrie grimaced. "I guess? Sounds stupid, doesn't it. Glen's been pretty quiet about his past and about his family though, I think that’s part of the problem. I'll be talking with Corry later today, hopefully he'll have come up with some data."

“Maybe Glen simply has family issues,” Julie murmured, looking back down at her salad.

Carrie flinched. "Oh, gods. I'm sorry Julie, I was speaking without thinking. H-How has your family situation been?”

Julie offered up a wan smile. “No worries, Carrie. Jeeves has been like a father, and he’s great at handling all the legal stuff. My parents have backed off, and my counselling sessions are down to once a month now.” She sighed. “And while it's hard, reinventing my very understanding of myself and my goals, let's face it, life's never been easy for me."

She continued on before Carrie could speak. “I'd rather talk about something else, okay? For instance, aside from Glen, what else have you been up to? We didn’t get to speak much over the summer, I was trying to make up those couple credits I lost due to - you know.”

Talk then shifted to a trip which Carrie’s father had arranged for both Watersons during the previous month.

***

Carrie tried not to give Glen any more thought until she encountered Corry at the end of the school day. "So?" Carrie said pointedly, when he didn’t look up. "What's the story, do I rate a few facts?"

"You mean with respect to Glen Oaks?" Corry inquired, finally turning away from his locker.

"No, the Easter Bunny. Of course Glen!"

Corry made a face. “Funny you should ask that," he said. "Because as much as it pains me to admit this, you may well know more about the guy than I do."

That brought Carrie up short. "What?"

“The information I get is all conflicting," Corry explained. "He's from Calgary, or Halifax. His parents are both doctors, or they're artists. He's allergic to strawberries, or they're his favourite food. About the only thing my sources can agree on is that Glen has the hots for you. He hasn't even tried to hit on anyone else. Which indicates to me that this is one seriously disturbed individual!"

"I see. That's it?" Carrie said dryly, allowing Corry's last remark to slide for the moment.

"Aside from the standard stuff, yeah. He's seventeen, a good runner, he's got a permanent room in the Clayton Hotel until such a time as his parents finalize their house deal and get here – though again goodness knows exactly when or where that is – am I telling you anything you don't already know?"

"No, you're being utterly useless, thank you."

"Anytime for you, Carrie. Though hey, if you ever do take this guy up on an offer and learn something useful, I might reward you for it. Okay?"

"Right. Whatever," Carrie said, waving at Corry over her shoulder as she continued on her way down the hall. She wasn’t about to start dating the guy simply to get some future favour from Corry. Hell, she’d never entertained thoughts of being in a serious romantic relationship in her life.

Carrie froze mid-step. That wasn’t the problem here... was it? ‘Oh no. Is my problem with Glen?’ she wondered. ‘Or is it with... me?'

***

"Okay Frank, this is the point when I start getting jealous."

"Shhhhh, Luci, he'll hear you,” Frank whispered. He poked his head out from behind the bushes to glance down the sidewalk.

"Frank, this is the third day in a row that you've followed Glen home from school," Luci continued in a quieter tone, toying with her phone, not bothering to look herself. "Do you really think you'll learn anything about him that Corry Veniti can’t?"

"I don't know. But you’ve seen how interested he is in Carrie. We can’t simply ignore that.”

"Can’t we?" Luci muttered.

"No, think about it, Luci!" Frank insisted.

He moved ahead a few paces to another hiding spot before continuing. "We have here a transfer student with a clouded past who shows up out of nowhere and starts hitting on a girl who holds within her the temporal power to destroy a solar system. Why, they even have the same course schedules! How is that mere coincidence?? The whole world could be in danger again!"

"Or, how about this? The guy is a normal teenage male with an eye for female beauty who appreciates Carrie's various 'assets'," Luci quipped. “I mean, it’s not like Glen’s done anything shifty. We should be cautious, sure, but we can’t make a preemptive strike against everyone new in town."

"But..."

“Plus schedules are schedules. Laurie's classes are identical to Carrie’s too. And she also admires Carrie,” Luci continued. "Do you think Laurie Veniti poses a threat?”

"Well, no, but..."

“No, because we’ve had time to get to know her. AND Carrie told me over the weekend that her hesitation might not be about Glen. It might be a mix of fear over who she really is, coupled with an inability to put old commitment issues behind her. You DO remember why Lee refers to Carrie as the ‘track tease’, yes? It’s not merely for the running.”

"Okay, valid points, all of them," Frank yielded. "Still, if Carrie eventually DOES go out with Glen, we should know more about him, right?"

“IF. This gets back to my jealousy. You're not Carrie's father, Frank. Not unless there's been some severe temporal warping going on. So until Carrie asks for help, let’s let the girl live her life."

Frank sighed, then glanced out towards the redhead once more. "Okay, look, he's going into the cafe today. Nowhere near his hotel. Let's at least see what he's up to there. Okay?"

"Fine," Luci said, rolling her eyes. "But this weekend, I’ll pick the movie. No more James Bond for you."

Glen did nothing suspicious that afternoon either.