The smell of rich coffee filled the room as Gregory spoke. “Time traveling started after the fifth world war about 200 years ago. We lost a lot of historical information during the war and the destruction sent the population into chaos. World leaders decided that looking to the past might be the best way to determine how to move forward.”

April passed a large mug of coffee to her forced guest, leaving milk and sugar on the table as well.

“Scientists from all over the world focused on developing time travel and after about 20 years of endless trails and errors they did it. This happened before I was born, there was a lot of problems with it at first. Mostly with parts of people not coming back from time jumps. By the time I was born, the technology had been perfected and time travel became normal and the world had rebuilt itself.”

“So people are just traveling to the past like it's a vacation?” April asked.

Gregory sipped his coffee, “No, it's a lengthy process for a civilian to be given permission for time travel. It's mostly used to explore ancestry. However, there was a break in at one of the facilities a few years back and a lot these watches were stolen.”

The robotic spider continued their diligent work, but two of them started bickering at each other, forcing the guard to scold them.

“So that's where I come in, my job is to track down those criminals who abuse the technology. This man here was one of the more notorious ones, who wanted to try and change the future by meddling in the past.”

“Could that happen?” April asked.

“In theory, time is complex; no one has all the answers for how it works. I don't think anyone ever will.”

She stared at the man on the floor, trying to let the information settle in her brain. She tapped her mug, questions rising to the front of her mind.

“How does it work?”

Gregory chuckled, “Well I'm not brainy enough to give you all the geeky details. The best I can say is that the watch allows us to time travel by using a separate plane in space that closely runs to this world. It functions like a two way mirror, we can see you but you can't see us. ”

“You realize that's unsettling, right?”

The man's face flushed, “Of course! That's why time travel is so closely monitored. These devices are designed to only allow a person to remain in the past for a preset amount of time and can detect any changes and elements in the atmosphere that may indicate that someone shouldn't see.”

“Like what? Sex, murder?”

“Yes, the development of weapons, all sorts of things. We just want to learn more about how humans used to live so we could figure out how we should live now...or in the future, I should say.”

“So wait, what year is it in your time?”

“3022”

“If my side isn't supposed to see you how do you explain the crap that happened in my house?”

The man rubbed the back of his neck, “I think it was caused by the hacked equipment this villain used. It interfered with mine, causing us to partially slip into your world.”

The words stunned her, but his face was so serious that she couldn't object to it. The light on the spiders back blinked green, and they scurried back to the box.

“Ah, they're done. I can get out of hair. I apologize again. It's a complete failure on my part. I will take full responsibility when I return.”

He stood, walking over the his captured foe, kneeling beside him. He tinkered with the bracer on the scruffy man, and with a few dings on his own bracer, the man disappeared like a TV losing it's picture. April gasped, looking towards Gregory.

“I'm supposed to wipe your memory if something like this happens but...I think you need to know that you're going to be ok. More than ok, you're going to be really happy.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“Well I am from the future,” Gregory grinned. “Just hang in there ok? Thanks for the coffee April.”

She blinked and he was gone, leaving her alone in the house that she once feared. It was so quiet she wondered if any of it happened at all. She pinched to arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming. A shot of pain confirmed that she wasn't. Hot tears ran down her face with out her knowledge. She slowly wiped them away, hanging on the last words Gregory Hightower told her. Would she be happy again? She remembered the fallen picture and walked to hallway. It was one of her wedding photos, they were both smiling like nothing bad could ever happen to them. She suddenly remembered the words Ian had whispered in her ear moments after that picture was taken.

I know this is our wedding day and all but promise me if anything happens to me, you'll be happy. In fact be happier than you've ever been.

She smiled, more tears falling down her face. For the first time since her husband passed, she knew she would be happy again.