“
Do you need anything, Bradley?” Violet asked. She had gotten off of Teddy’s lap and was kneeling on the floor by him.
“N-No-No.” He said through light sobs.
Violet didn’t know what to say despite also losing her mother recently. She tried to find the words, but instead just grabbed his gloved hand.
“V-Violet…” Bradley sniffed. “Thank you for staying with me...y-you’re a really special friend.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty for us to do when we get back.”
“Like what?”
“Well, have you ever seen TV?”
He shook his head.
“Not even movies?”
He shook his head again.
“Sounds like a good place to start.
Spongebob,
Scooby-Doo, wait you haven’t even seen the Internet!”
“Uhh…” He sounded almost apprehensive. “Is it alright if we just keep reading books?”
Midge cackled at that. “Smart kid. I got some you can use, Bradley. It’d be good to read some recent ones too--catch up on the world.”
He nodded his head slowly at that. “Uhh… there’s something else too. What about my superpowers?”
Emma raised an eyebrow, as if she hadn’t considered it. “Your potential for morphogenetic resonance is certainly much higher than a normal person due to Blight. Though considering your life may not end up being in constant danger from here on out, it’s also possible they’ll never be fully realized.”
Despite the mask, it was very obvious Bradley was disappointed in the non-answer. “So you’re saying you don’t know?”
“Trust me, Bradley.” Midge said. “You don’t want to be constantly looking at other timelines anyway. It’s the here and now that’s important. Alright?”
“Y-Yeah. Okay!”
Albert had been watching the conversation unfold. He didn’t want to butt in, and mostly felt relieved that it seemed like things would be fine, at least in the immediate future.
“So, Emma. Would you say we won this time?”
“I’m no sure.” Emma bit her lip. “Bradley’s situation doesn’t seem like it’ll be any better without a cure. But at the very least, the future should be fine. As long as we’re careful.”
Albert looked at Bradley again. He thought of Ghost, and how she had reached out to him when he needed somebody. She did that for him, for no thanks in return. She did that for Bradley too--for no reason but that she believed it was the right thing.
Then he looked at himself. What had he really done this whole time besides feel sorry for himself? Besides just walking around in pity?
“I’ll help you, Brad.” .
“H-Huh?” Bradley jumped. He sounded almost scared.
“I’ll find the cure for Blight-Y. And I’ll be quick with it too, I know how long you’ve been waiting.” Albert promised.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Emma snapped. “The CDC has been researching this for fourteen years. I have findings from 98 attempts that-”
“Sounds like a great place to get started then. Most of the work is done for me.”
Emma just blinked at Albert, not sure whether or not he was being serious.
“I invented goddamn time travel. This is just Biology.” He laughed. He looked oddly confident, more than anybody had ever seen him.
He put his hand on Bradley’s knee. “Don’t worry. I got this.”
“Thank you, Mister Albert.” Bradley sniffed. Albert couldn’t tell what Bradley’s face looked like due to the visor, but it sounded like he was smiling. “I-I won’t expect mu-much…”
Emma began to laugh. It was a quiet chuckle but still unusual for her for how genuine it seemed.
“What?” Albert asked.
“Nothing. You’re just the smartest person I’ve ever met and… I never even considered to think that you could do it.”
Albert just raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t question her further.
Emma smiled and slowly began to shake with vivid excitement. “If you truly do develop a cure, then I can get my findings back to 9 years ago again. We can stop this much earlier. Save Ghost, even the people Bradley infected alread-”
“Emma, are you out of your mind?!” Midge shouted.
Emma blinked at her.
“Have you learned anything?!”
“I just-”
“Emma…” Midge gripped her hands tightly. “It’s ok for people to die. You can’t save everyone and… you need to accept that.”
“But Ghost died for this mission. Bradley’s depending on-”
“Ghost died for Bradley, Emma. He’s still here. He still has a future right now.”
“The ‘here and now’...” Bradley repeated, looking at Midge. “Right?”
“Yeaaaaah, I’m gonna have to pass on the time machine this time.” Albert agreed. “Even the headset I made was dangerous, let alone full-fledged time travel.”
He looked out the window at the desert horizon. “You know Sherrington warned Midge not to change my life until October 1st, right? That’s when Ice died…” He clenched the headset he had shattered on the floor earlier. “Even that crazy bastard realized the past is best left in the past.”
Emma looked down at herself. It was like she hadn’t realized this timeline was it. A strange dissonance she had felt over the last 9 years, the large burden she upheld, the amount of stress she underwent… and yet she couldn’t stop staring at her hands.
Without warning, she burst into tears.
“A-Ah!” Midge shouted. She was clearly taken aback. “O-Oh my god, you’re… crying?!”
“Please… just don’t mind me.” Emma coughed.
“Oh, Emma!” Midge grabbed her in a hug. “Nothing to be ashamed of. This is a good thing!”