THE PERFECT FOOL

And what about all the good I have in my heart - does it mean anything?

[summaiden]

Dogs. There was something about dogs. And the… FBI? No. That couldn’t be right. Aiden was ready to rip his hair out – which was, for the record, much longer than he thought it should be. Hadn’t he gotten that cut? Apparently not. He had been trying to put the pieces together for a full twenty four hours but they didn’t seem to fit quite right. Something was missing. Hastily unfolding his invitation for the third time in the last five minutes, he read over every word carefully, the confusion he felt growing. For a man that always relied on logic, he was at a loss. Perhaps he was losing his mind. Geniuses were supposed to be a little off, after all. Paying no mind to if anyone was standing in earshot, he let out a frustrated sound, somewhere between a growl and a scream, questioning anyone in passing, the universe and God himself. “What the bloody hell is happening?”

[sethmcclain]

It was no secret to any man, woman, child, or quite possibly even animal that Aiden Summers had it out for Seth McClain. It had been the very height of all honours in Seth’s opinion, to be so hunted after by a genius and yet never exposed. He wondered if Aiden was blind to the truth that had always been in front of him. Had he looked in a more concise manner then the answer had always been obvious. In this time loop, Seth existed before he had truly existed. Timelines had crossed over and now he would be put into his new identity which had been kindly set up by Aiden himself and a few other geniuses many years prior to the time he would actually see what a great opportunity was ahead of him. The McClain name had got him everything and really, in a way, he was amused that Aiden suspected he wanted anything but to live the profitable life that being the eventual Mayor of London had got him (before he had unfortunately got twisted into this entanglement and knocked flying back to before he had even built his empire). “Well, it’s nice to see a familiar face, Aiden,” the slight of amusement was clear in the very corners of his lips but his tone was sincere.

[sethmcclain]

kittyvalance:

It wasn’t the face the blonde had expected to see as her eyes met the owner of the voice within their reflection, the familiarity of the politician’s profile all but hitting her with the weight of a ton of bricks as fragraments of her memories with him broke through. “I don’t understand,” she murmured to the reflections before whipping around to face him. “I thought I was— What happened? Why are we here, Seth?” There were hints of pleading in her voice, a desperate, fruitless need to understand why they had been brought back to such a dark period in her life and all their lives. Why couldn’t they just leave time alone? Closing her eyes for a moment to steady her onslaught of thoughts, Kitty breathed a deep sigh, baby blues revealing themself once more as she gracefully bridged the gap between them to cup his face. “What do you remember?”

“You.” Her hands against his skin was a sensation so strangely familiar that he could not help the slight of a smile that clawed it’s way onto his features. Time had not changed the Seth McClain that had existed before all of this and he hoped now that there would be no backslid to a less desirable version of himself. He had been placed in a very awkward predicament, his true identity now at play far before Aiden ever became aware of his existence. It was only a matter of time until he presumed he would be exposed as someone other than who he had always said he was, “I remember you.” In all his grace he did not mention the entire backdrop of death, misery and children that no longer existed. Perhaps he already knew that there would always be a way to redeem them. He had never once doubted himself and yet as he stood here he wondered -- should he doubt the version of himself he had became?

[icarusavery-deactivated20190303]

Tyler could still remember the last thing he had been doing before he had woken up; sitting on his office chair, working. He had kids to worry about, a city to protect, but nothing seemed to matter anymore. Eyes closing as he thought of everything that had happened, all the things that he could change. “Fuck this place,” he whispered.

[sethmcclain]

His gaze shifted to his watch. Somewhat like a hologram he felt as if he was drifting between realities these days with no prefix as to a particular reason why. “Oh dear,” he remarked, concern on his much lighter features, “Well, I suppose you’ll do for company, I’ve been here six months. How are the children?”

[kittyvalance]

Never the one for any sort of vanity, Kitty Valance was an odd sight to be presented with as she stood reflected within the frame of a floor length mirror — the glow of her youth and vitality nearly blinding as nimble fingers trailed over the smooth edges of her jaw right down to the velvet of her skin now clear and unmarred from her treatments. “Is this real?” she voiced out loud, an open ended question full of just as much surprise as there was belief as a sudden dizziness had overcome her. It was like the more rational parts of her brain we’re working overtime as she tried to clutch at something to hold onto — the image of a more fragile version of herself that had found peace in awaiting the key to death’s door burned in her mind. “What day is it?”

[sethmcclain]

It was not the best day. However, it was in all likelihood not the worst. In retrospective view it was much better than the day in which he had found himself pushed through a wormhole in the universe to abandon his many children under the ward of God knows who after all the efforts he had put into maintaining his family. Seeing his wife again after so many years for some may have been nerve wracking but based on a technicality they weren’t actually married and had -- in some backwards way -- never met in this context. The coffee in his hand was easily knocked back as he rounded the corner more accurately, his own reflection now mirrored behind her, some abstract version of the person(s) that they used to be. A small part of him expected the mirror to crack at the sheer complexity of it all but it did not, “Accurately, the best and the worst day. Numerically, March 24th 2001.”