“Are you sure you know what to do..?” Patryck asked as Tobi set the device's travel date. “Yes,” Tobi sighed trying to steady his thoughts. He knew what to do, where to go, and what time to travel to. Now all they had to do was hope it would work, or else things wouldn’t change. “Good luck than…” Patryck wished, and Tobi nodded with a somber smile, “I’ll save her… don’t worry.”

Things in the restricted area of the base, where Tord had made a home for him and his son, had taken a turn. Tobi had worked up the courage to try and ask about his mother again, this time, asking when his father was too drunk to think clearly. That was when he found out what really happened to his mother.

Tord and Anya had gotten into a heated argument the day she found out she was pregnant with him. Their relationship had already been strained, and that was the breaking point for her, so Anya left the army, fully prepared to give birth and raise Tobi on her own.

With his pride bruised, and his own high level of stubbornness, instead of chasing after the woman he was suppose to love, he waited for her, confident she'd return on her own. This never happened, because after months of waiting, she only managed to call Tord after hours of labor and little sleep. She had finally wanted to return home, and to try again with Tord, if they only had gotten there sooner, the three of them would have been a family.

It had been his biggest regret for the past 17 years.

Finally confessing this had been the thing that finally broke Tord’s will, and the man collapsed there and then infront of his son, before Tobi even had a chance to process what he had been told.

The doctors said it was a mix of years of stress, heavy drinking, and harboring so much to himself. It was almost like the relief of a confession was going to be what killed him.

It had been a week since then, and Tord still hadn’t woken up, nor had he shown any sign of improvement.

It was then Tobi knew what he had to do, he had to do what his father couldn’t and be there to save his mother.

At first, he had tried to go in blindly, and without a plan due to desperation, if Patryck hadn’t stopped him, odds are he might have made things worse for all those involved.

Patryck confessed his part in the events leading to that night. Anya was good at manipulating people when she wanted to, Tord was the only one she had ever felt guilty about doing it to, even when it would have benefited her during that sad time when Tord prioritized his goals over her. But Patryck on the other hand, if she said “jump”, he just asked “how high.” he had an odd feeling of respect for her because of that.

He still remembered where Anya was staying at the time, and he told Tobi everything he needed to know, especially that it was crucial he was never let his face be seen by any one from the past. It could risk changing time in the wrong way.

Everyone had all jumped through time trying to fix things at one point, all before the time stream had a chance to settle and the changes could catch up to their time. In the end it doomed them from being able to make any more changes themselves without causing a collapse, at least that what Bing had said. To be honest there was a lot more complicated phrasing involved, and a lot more reasons on top of all that too. Basically it was like cutting threads, and retying them too many times to be stable when left in their hands.

So, if any of them time jumped again to save Anya themselves, it could create a worse scenario instead of fixing things. They had already attached themselves to so many time periods, it was almost like a movie time paradox.

That only left the kids, Ethan, Theo, Maxx and Tobi who were use to portal jumping, basically playing with the fabric of space like a game, without causing disruptions, that there may have been a chance to fix things

That was all he needed, a chance to try.

So with a press of a button, Tobi traveled to the day Anya would call Patryck for their first meeting since she left.

The reason Tobi chose that time, after thinking about it extensively, was because there would be no guarantee he’d be conceived at all if he traveled too far back to stop his parents relationship from becoming strained.

It was too risky to travel inside the base to stop Anya from leaving, and there was no guarantee Tord would have the right mindset to help fix things without realizing just how bad everything was.

It hurt to know his mother would still have to go through heartbreak, but his father had only realized just how much he loved her, until after she was gone. It had to break, so it would be fixed.

__

Going through time was a dizzying, and almost vomit inducing experience for him, how the adults managed so easily was beyond him, because he was on his hands and knees the moment he was out on the other side.

It took him a few minutes to even be able to stand afterwards, though the dizzy feeling didn’t fade very quickly, and his stomach still turned, so it was probably a good thing he hadn’t gone for the idea of taking his mother with him to the future. It might have caused her a lot of suffering whether it was hurt after she gave birth, let alone while still pregnant.

The smell of the lower parts of the old city didn’t help either with the sickness he felt. Maybe it was because he was too accustomed to clean areas or breathing through the mask he would use to hide his face.

Beyond that, the hotel where he had transported to was in an abandoned area where Tobi and his friends had never gone to, during present day, it was dangerous and off limits, even by their standards. In current time, it had become a den of creatures that the army had lost control of. The irony that this was the place his pregnant mother had hidden herself away for safety, left a bitter taste in his mouth at the thought of her getting caught up in the creatures taking over the area.

He didn’t have long to dwell on many thoughts though, because through the smell of smog and rot, there was something painfully familiar present that caught his attention.

"Rose Petal Kisses", the perfume his father had always gifted to his mother. The smell 'that' room emitted whenever he passed by.

His mother’s scent.

Ducking behind the wall he had leaned against, Tobi peaked around to observe hidden from sight, with his hood pulled up, as she walked up to the hotel entrance in her red cloak.

The teen had to bite his hand to resist the urge to run up to her, and to keep from calling out to her when she removed her hood. The pain kept him grounded as a flood of emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

Even at that distance, he could see her clearly, from her foggy blue eyes, to the gentle, melancholic smile she wore as she held her swelling stomach constantly. It was like the world slowed its pace for a moment, and a hundred thoughts filled his mind as he watched his mother from afar.

His father had once described his mother to him when he was very young, even if there was a painting of her, Tord insisted it didn’t do her any justice. And he was right, just seeing her brought Tobi near tears, she was so beautiful, it hurt.

Tord described her as being as beautiful as a brisk, white winter morning that made you appreciate the warmth and safety of your blankets. As a small child he couldn’t really comprehend it, but seeing her in that moment, he understood.

Her face had a permanent sadness to it, years of being in the middle of conflict carved into her very being, but she wore her age, her sorrows, and her sins with grace. Much like a winter storm that had left behind a pure whiteness.

It made him want to hug her all the more. Seeing her wasn’t enough, if he failed to save her, he knew it wouldn’t be something he could come back from, not after seeing her, and how happy they all could have been as a family.

He had to look away as she entered the building, just to take a minute to breath and collect himself, wiping away the tears that had started to prick his eyes. It took everything Tobi had in himself to keep control, even to the point of biting his own hand till he drew blood. The taste of iron kept him in the reality of the situation.

And so, he waited for the Patryck of the past to come. Tobi had thought everything over carefully, and despite the situation of back than, everyone become accustomed to the safety of the base, that their sense of urgency had been so dulled to let Anya leave, so he just had to create a situation of urgency.

It wasn’t long before Patryck showed up, and for a moment Tobi was stunned by how young he looked compared to the Patryck he was used to. His hair didn't have as much grey, and was a lot longer than in the future, he still looked fairly young even with grey. He didn't look as tired either...

Letting out a sigh, Tobi felt like a dick for what he was about to do, but the polish man needed to be riled up enough to get past his mother's stubbornness if this was going to work.

--

The soldier didn’t even hear the teen as he walked up, and had no time to react as he was slammed face first into the brick wall, probably enough to make the man’s ears ring in the daze. “What the-” was all the polish man could say before he was on the ground.

If Tobi hadn't been trained by the best the Red Army had to offer, odds are he wouldn’t have gotten close to Patryck without being caught in the act.

Acting quickly, the half norski twisted the taller man's arms behind his back, and swept off of his legs out from under, sending both to the ground with a loud thud. He really did feel bad for doing this so roughly, but it was the only way to get his point across.

By the time Patryck could see straight from two blows, one to the head and being sent to the ground with the weight of another person on his back, he heard a voice behind him, it was younger than he would have suspected. It actually shocked him.

“I’m only going to say this once,” his assailant warned, keeping a firm on both of Patrycks wrists, and a knee on the middle of his back, “If the woman carrying Red Leader’s spawn isn’t gone before tonight, she isn’t going to survive till morning.” Tobi said it in such a calm but sickening tone, he could feel the man under him shutter.

“Who the fuck-” the man started again before being interrupted yet again. He REALLY didn’t want to, but with a loud crack, he slammed Patrycks head against the pathment, after grabbing a fist full of his hair and pulling his head back as far as his neck could crane. Ironic that Patryck had also been the one to teach this to Tobi himself. But he couldn't chance him seeing his face, his hoodie could only cover so much.

“Just someone who has enough of a conscience to not want the mutilated body of a pregnant woman to be apart of tomorrow mornings headlines,” he finished before getting up, now was the hardest part. Running away. He was well practiced in his scary voice, and he read up on enough material through the years to have a well prepared phrasing. Luckily he didn’t stumble on his words. "This is the only chance your getting to save her." Patryck could barely move without getting dizzy from how he looked, hopefully Tobi didn't give him head trauma.

Tobi had to both run away fast before Patryck could recover and get far enough away to not see the flash of the time warp, because he was pretty sure he hadn’t put everything he had into each hit.

So acting as fast as he could manage, Tobi sprang up while the soldier was still groggy and sprinted away as fast as he could manage, and he would of kept running until he was at least a few blocks away, he hear Patryk call after him, but that just made him run faster. Hopefully, Patryck would be too concerned with checking on Anya to follow him, but to make sure Tobi took different turns which caused him to bump into quite a few people along the way. But he some how managed.

It was unfortunate his mother was smart enough to use a payphone of all things to contact Patryck, because calling and giving the warning to her would have been a bit less violent.

Tobi leaned against the wall to catch his breath, staring at the grey sky hoping it worked. Seeing the timelines catch up was odd, since there was no telling how long it would take.

So he waited until he could breathe normally before attempting to warp again, guess there was a reason it was labeled to keep out of reach of kids.

Tobi didn’t get a chance to change the travel date though, because just a moment after catching his breath, the teen felt his whole body start to go cold, and convulse violently, it felt like something inside him has just exploded.

No One Told Him About This!

In everything they had said, changes to one person were almost instant, and painless.

But the pain Tobi felt shooting through every nerve in his body was very real. It started from his abdomen and spread quickly to every part of him. It was like being stabbed with hot needles after being taken out of an ice  bath. All he could do was curl up into himself on the pathment as cold sweat dripped down his face, and his vision became blurry. He couldn’t imagine how he must have looked to whomever might have been around to witness it.

It hurt so much, he could only choke on his screams, as his body jolted and twitched beyond his control. The intense ringing in his ears was deafening, the feeling of being on fire and frozen at the same time were unbearably sickening, maybe this was a sign he failed…

The last thing he thought about before everything went black, was the smile on his mother’s face as she stroked her stomach, the love in her eyes, made things less scary…

“Sorry…. mama…”