Guava #21 and Trail Mix #21
Story: Timeless { backstory | index }
Title: Mirror Image
Rating: G
Challenge: Guava #21: been there, done that, Trail Mix #21: in the shade
Toppings/Extras: none
Wordcount: 1,087
Summary: Time-travel is inadvisable; multiple time-travel to the same period of time is just silly.
Notes: I was having problems with LJ earlier, hopefully this one won’t come out mashed up!
The four black-clad figures moved clandestinely through the black house. It was probably imposing during the day: during the night, it was absolutely terrifying. The place was perfectly still, and gleamed in the silvery threads of moonlight that giggled through the curtains, mischievously glinting in curious directions from mirrors, ornaments, portraits. The floor seemed like an acre of gleaming marble, and the luxurious layers of velvet looked like ominous pools of liquid.
“This is so weird,” the one called Bradley Dekeynel said, quietly enough, but his words tangled in the corners of the vast room and split off into distant whispers. The leader of Horatio Newson’s black ops team turned and glared at him, her golden brows knotting at the centre of her forehead.
“Shut it,” she hissed. “We don’t know what’s ahead.”
Robyn Walshe was noticed mainly for her height, which was far above average, especially for a woman. Her hair was tied back in a golden rope that she slung down her back, and she wore the identical black combat clothing that the rest of her team did. There were four of them: herself and Bradley, along with the young but keen Taisy Daniels and the silent, wraith-like Victor Blackledge.
These four figures raced up one arm of the imposing dual stairway that curved away into either halves of the upstairs and slipped along the main corridor without fright. There was a light under one door, but they silently flitted past it and were taken no notice of. And why would they be?
They had expert training that the people of 1646 could not even imagine: they had night-vision goggles and weapons and cam-sheets and other sorts of equipment that would blow the mind of the quaint folk that they had encountered thus far. Robyn counted the doors on their speedy way along the corridor and halted instantly at what she deemed the correct one. Her ink-black boots, although bulky, were leather-soled and silent.
“Victor?” she asked softly, glancing briefly at him. The pale man nodded once. Stretching gloved fingers to the bronze door-handle (she could hardly believe people used to have handles on their doors!), she touched it a moment, and then twisted it as she had been told to do. She controlled the movement of the door to open at just the right speed for caution and noise, and then swung it open fully.
All four of them froze in shock.
Coming the other way were four remarkably familiar figures along with a not-so-familiar one. Four black-clad figures on the other side of the door, looking at them. Robyn could have compared it to looking into a mirror as she gazed at the face of their leader, except the other Robyn seemed even more tired and irritable than herself-and that was saying something.
“I knew this would happen,” the one dubbed Other Robyn moaned.
“Newson...” Other Taisy sighed.
Robyn simply stared. Her cohorts were equally incapacitated by their disbelief. It was a moment compiled entirely of staring.
“You’re us,” Robyn finally said, slowly.
“Well done,” Other Bradley replied in typical wry manner. “Apart from him: this is Lord Ashdown.”
Her gaze fell onto a rather strange little fellow. Quite slim, short too, dressed in typical seventeenth century garb which was very atypical indeed to Robyn’s eyes. She was trying to put two and two together in her mind, and the concept itself was simple enough she supposed, it was merely the fact it had appeared so suddenly in front of her that held her tongue hostage.
“Good to meet you... again,” Ashdown said warily. “I’m sure it is as equally a pleasure as the first time... although I suppose that for you, it is the first time. Although the first time we meet from my point of view, in a characteristically confounding manner, takes place a few minutes from now.”
There was silence for a moment.
“That’s the one we’re meant to be abducting, right?” Taisy said uncertainly.
“Oh, no-well, he is, but the one you want is still asleep in his bed,” Other Robyn said warily, thrusting a thumb over her shoulder to gesture towards another door. They were now within the private chambers of Lord Ashdown, but had not yet reached the room in which he slept. “This is the one we kidnapped earlier. Just... don’t ask, all right?”
“I won’t,” Robyn said slowly. “Was this meant to happen?”
”Not really,” Other Robyn sighed. She looked tired, and a recognizable frustration was turning her eyes sharp as broken glass. “But you’ll be back here, and I mean a lot. Time-travel takes a lot out of a girl, I can tell you.”
”That reminds me, can you please not shoot Mr Prowse this time?” Ashdown asked cheerfully.
“Who?”
“Oh, right, yeah.” Other Robyn rolled her eyes. “Last time, numbskull over there shot Prowse and it pretty much screwed up the universe.”
“Hey, that wasn’t exactly my fault-,” Other Bradley protested.
“Look, we can’t hang about,” Other Robyn interrupted him smoothly. “We’ll be off now. We have what we need. Have fun kidnapping Ashdown. Trust me, you’re about to meet the biggest pain in the arse you’ll ever have the displeasure of knowing.”
“Charming,” Ashdown muttered.
“OK,” Robyn said, deciding that she could live with this strange turn of events. “By the way-any advice for the future?”
“I’m going to stick with don’t shoot Prowse for now,” Other Robyn said. She pushed some strands of hair from her forehead and adjusted her night-vision goggles daintily. “I’m sure we’ll meet again. Anyway, it’s been nice.”
“Will we have to go through this?”
“Probably not, lucky for you,” Other Bradley said, strolling past them. “You’ll get it explained to you better a little later: get ready for multiple uses of the word ‘time-stream’ and ‘time-frame’.”
“I look forwards to it,” Robyn smiled tiredly.
“Don’t be too hard on me,” Lord Ashdown of the Future said in a warning tone as he too walked around them. “This lot were horrid when they abducted me.”
“Shut it, you,” Other Robyn said, prodding him in the back. “See you later. Or earlier. Whichever comes first.”
And then the bizarre encounter was over, the four team-members ended up standing in a dark and silent room, pondering upon their first encounter with their future-selves.
“Looks like it could be fun,” Taisy grinned.
“Looks like it could be rather confusing,” Bradley added.
To Robyn Walshe, it just looked like a whole lot more explaining to do.