Everything Has Its Time

First, a note.

This is a spin-off from a longer novel I have written entitled 'The Summoner', about time travel. If you require any other background knowledge, other than that I placed in the story, please mail me. (Oh, and I apologise for the terrible ending.)

Stella*

****

“Everything has its time.”

That’s what he always tells me. Whenever I have to ask why something has to end, or someone has to die, or why good things never last, that’s what he says.

Sometimes, when he tells me that it makes me cry, because I don’t understand why anything that brings anyone joy has to die. Sometimes I feel a sense of relief, or justification, or I feel that I’ve done some good in the world. But a lot of the time I don’t feel anything when he tells me that.

The last time I saw Felix he said that to me, and I hurt him.

I don’t know why. I’m not a violent person by nature. But since I’ve known him I’ve changed, and the things we’ve seen have done things to me that I can never explain.
Gabe isn’t like me at all. He’s fast and witty, and has a universe of knowledge all bursting inside him. He’s passionate about what he does, too; we both are, but I’m nothing compared to him. Then again, he has been working in this line for a lot longer than I have. He dresses well, always smart but casual, normally a nice pair of jeans, trainers and a cool t-shirt and a suit jacket, with his grin and his dark eyes and hair. I don’t know how old he is, he’s never really told me. It’s kinda Doctor Who in a way, I suppose – I’m his Rose, he’s my Doctor.

But it’s a whole lot more complicated than that.

We’re from the Time and Space Protection Society. Oh, come on; don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it. Ryan and Scarlet…? No? Okay, brief rundown. Ryan is a Time Crawler, scum of time and space; Scarlet’s on our side. They have a thing for each other, sleep with each other and Ryan nicks her watch, leaving her one shot and a riddle. Eventually we realise that Ryan is the Summoner (leader of the Crawlers, long story) and Scarlet kills him. This was a couple of years back, and since then some of the Crawlers have handed themselves over.

They started a new division of the Society, in which Crawlers team up with a Society member and they go around fixing the time stream and killing the bad guys. That’s where Gabe and I come in. Gabe is an old Crawler – he’s from Elizabethan times originally and worked in Ryan’s time – and I’m a Society worker. We disagree over some things because of it, but generally we get on. More than get on. There’s some kind of thing between us, I don’t know what. But that’s between you and me, right?
What was I saying?

Oh yeah. Felix.

Felix was an old friend of mine. We were like brother and sister at one point, but then we joined different divisions of the Society and didn’t see each other around anymore. This story is about the last time I saw Felix. I suppose it’s one of the best stories I have to tell.

It was summer, the middle of June. Boy, was it hot; long, hazy summer days spent with Gabe in the grounds, sitting in the elm trees and talking in length about our old lives and things we had done together while Arnie the army guy worked the level five workers to death on the field. Gabe loves the summer, always has done. His dark eyes glaze over and he stares into the sky, and I just watch him. It makes me pleased to see him so happy. His smile brings me warmth even when I’m at my coldest.

We hadn’t had a lot of work for a while. In fact, it had been practically dead work-wise for about a month, except for a couple of gaps in the time stream that were easy to fix (time stream - the fluctuating mass of time and space that keeps us all in check. Just so you know). This particular day Gabe was in the shade, and I was lying out in the sun with a halter neck and a short skirt, basking in the sun’s deathly rays.

“I think you look better pale,” he said. I knew it was him – his voice was slightly posh because of his proper Tudor English. I turned my head to him sleepily.

“Yeah, that’s because in Tudor times you were all vampires, practically, and stayed indoors all day unless it was necessary. This is the twenty-first century, Gabe,” I reminded him. He gave me his ‘You know I’m that old and have to remind me’ smile and kicked his trainers off. “Anyway, I don’t care if you like me better pale, I like to be tanned, thanks.”

“Okay, okay.”

“What’s the rule?”

“Don’t argue with the woman.”

“Exactly.”

And I shut my eyes again. “Maybe I should try this sun bathing thing,” he said thoughtfully behind me. I gave a hum. “What’s it like?”

“Hot. And relaxing.”

“Hmm. I don’t suppose being burnt to a crisp by UV rays can be called relaxing.”

There were footsteps running up to me on the grass and a breathless voice addressing Gabe. “Gabe, we’ve got you two some work.”

“Really?” I sat up and turned to the boy who had sprinted up with his tube of paper, red-faced and sweating gently. Gabe unrolled the paper and read it quickly.

“What’ve we got?” I asked.

“Rogue Crawler in the twenty-fifth century ripping the time stream apart,” he murmured, frowning slightly. “They’ve sent some level sixes but they want us down there too, for some repair work and maybe some hands on. We’ll see when we get there.” He looked up at the messenger. “Thanks. We’re on our way.”

The boy ran off and I stood. “I’ll have to get changed,” I said quickly as we walked back in together. Gabe eyed me with a sideways glance and gave a dry smile.

“Yeah. Unless you want to fight like that.”

“You’re kidding, right?” He laughed. “Tell me you’re kidding. Gabe? Gabe!”

We ended up play-fighting, like we normally do, and then I rushed off to grab some jeans and my jacket.

When I returned, Gabe was already with a Contact and waiting for instructions. A Contact is a must in the Society. They can talk through your headset and give you warnings and instructions as you work. Very handy people. Our Contact was called Cristobel, and she had short metallic red hair and a cheeky face, but she was very good at her job. I stuffed my gun into its holster and, as I was strapping my watch on, turned to her. “How’re we doing?”

“All right, time stream is really fast right now so I’d be careful,” she said. “Marco’s going to send me some info and then you’re off.”

Gabe strapped his purple diamond around his wrist and looked at me. “They think the three other people won’t be enough,” he said. I just blinked at him. He knew how I felt about that diamond being used for bad, but there wasn’t much choice.

And it wasn’t really bad – in the end we were killing a Crawler, if it came down to that. It just reminded me of what he used to be. That was the thing that hurt.

Crawlers were generally bad. Every living thing has an essence of time inside them, and these purple diamonds they all hold concentrate it, giving them godly powers like flight (or, in Ryan's case, making spirits rise from the grave and attack you as three huge dogs). Scarlet took his staff in the end, and everyone says she's still out there, but many people doubt it. The diamonds are like our watches - they can speed up or slow down time, but ours are more regulated and controlled.

Gabe had only turned over to our side under penalty of death. His crimes had been so severe that his trial had ended in imprisonment, awaiting execution. That was the first time I saw him. Alone, cold, and with nothing, sitting in his cell bruised and battered. The first look he had ever given me was one that pleaded with me to let him live. And I knew then that I couldn’t let him die, I couldn’t; he touched something strange inside me that I recognised. I mean, it’s hard enough watching your friends go to their death at the hands of Crawlers, but seeing a Crawler go to his death when he gives you a melting look like that is pure torture.

So he switched. Handed over his adopted uniform and picked something else. The diamond had stayed under certain rules and conditions, but I supposed then that Marco had given him the all clear to use it this time. The instructions came – do your job, don’t use force until necessary. Those were the normal ones.

We entered the time capsule together. The lilac strips on either side of the lift-like box scanned us for entry, the computerized female voice confirmed and explained our destination, and the time stream swelled and roared as we entered. I wrapped my arms tightly around Gabe and he held me beneath the exit hole as it opened like an eye into time and space.

“Three,” he whispered. “Two, one.”

We were thrown out. The purple mass enveloped us, warmed us, and we fell in a screaming blur onto the floor. Gabe was shaking; I felt distinctly sick. Shakily I let go of him and looked into his face. “You make it all right?” I asked. He nodded, but he had gone a strange shade of grey, and patted me on the shoulder.
We broke apart and stared around.

It was dark. Rain clouds hung poised overhead. The buildings were colossal, dark grey, taller than skyscrapers, and the bitter smell of dry concrete swam around me. Pollution clogged my airways, chemical and sweet. Gabe coughed and covered his mouth with his sleeve.

I turned on my headset. “How are we, Chrissie?”

“Good,” she replied clearly. “You want to go straight ahead until you find the wreckage of a skyscraper, there’s the first big hole. The rest are relatively small from then on.”

“Straight ahead,” I said to Gabe. He nodded. Obviously the pollution was making him feel ill, so I decided that we’d do this as fast as possible.

The city was dead. It sent chills up my spine. The cars were empty, none were moving, just stationary on the kerbs. No lights shone in the windows. Gabe spoke.
“We’re in the middle of a revolution here. This city’s been deserted for at least half a year.”

Sometimes I think he can read my mind. Really. It’s kinda creepy. “Were they killed?”

“No. None of them died. They all moved on.”

“Why?”

“Fear. It was an uprising from the underworld, the gang lords and such. So we won’t see anyone.”

I trust Gabe to know these kinds of things. As I said, a world of knowledge. I nodded and we went on. The pounding silence began to unnerve me. It became the rhythm of my heart and the source of my thoughts, and for a while I thought that I was going to break into a sweat and leg it out of there. But Gabe walked steadily onwards and I had no desire but to walk with him. I feel a bit of a connection with him. There’s no place I’d rather be, as long as he’s there.

The air changed. Cloudy, dusty. Brick dust. Cloggy and sticking inside my lungs. I coughed a little and put my own sleeve over my nose and mouth, breathing in the sweet smell of washing power. The grit stung my eyes and coated my clothes. Gabe helped me to pick my way over the cables and girders that lay sprawled on the ground. The fallen giant was crumbled and dangerous, and we stumbled and staggered to the hole in the time stream.

The Crawler couldn’t have made it any more obvious. It was a great purple chasm, sucking in debris from the skyscraper and glowing in the fabric of time, torn at the edges. “Nice job,” said Gabe, frowning. He went closer. “Almost an expert job. Ryan would have been pleased in his time. In fact, it’s very like his work.”

“But it’s not him, we know that,” I said.

“No we don’t. He’s still floating around time and space, y’know. His past self, and Scarlet’s past self. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of his…” Gabe trailed off and examined the hole. He picked up a clump of rock and let go; it was instantly sucked into the portal and vanished. “Well, should be easy enough,” he said.

I got out my pistol. Instead of silver or lilac cartridges, I had red ones. These were patches of time and space, in a way, and covered all of the holes. “Two shot job?” I asked. He thought, and then nodded. I fired twice. The patch covered it, consumed it, and all purple vanished to be replaced by grey and buildings.

We were about to go to the next one when I saw the flash. I gripped Gabe’s arm tightly. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“There was a purple flash not too far away.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

He paused. “Stay here.”

He loosened my grip and walked away, towards the source of the light. There was another one. I saw him touch his diamond lightly in comfort and walk a little lighter. I can’t stand it when he goes out on his own to find the Crawlers. I suppose he wants to protect me, but I always feel the same when he wanders off. I felt scared and vulnerable, alone in that dark and abandoned place, and I watched him hoping that he’d be okay.

Suddenly, in front of him, a Society worker came dashing out from behind a building. Gabe raised his arm so quickly that he didn’t have time to distinguish whether they were friend or foe, and shot a lilac warning shot just above their head. The man cursed, ducked and ran on.

“Gabe, stop! It’s Felix!” I yelled. He looked at me and nodded, lowering his arm for just a moment. I knew it was Felix – his blond hair was short and his blue eyes were just the right shape. “Felix!” Felix looked over at me.

“Jessie!” He hurried over, tripping on the broken bricks and gnarled girders. “What are you doing here?”

“Fixing some holes, helping you out. What’s going on?”

He looked back at Gabe. “We’ve got a bit of a situation. Crawler’s following me; I’m distracting him for Andrea and Nick.”

“Nick’s here?” Nick was Scarlet’s old friend, almost as legendary as her. He never talks about her or Ryan, but the sound of her name makes him look wistfully out of the window at the grave.

“Yeah, he’s good at this kind of thing.” Felix looked nervously down the alleyway. “Look, you guys should get out of here.”

“No way,” said Gabe loudly. “Jess, change your cartridge. We’re going to fight this thing.”

Adrenalin and fear pumped in my stomach. Felix looked at me in horror. “Are you kidding?” he asked.

“Nope. Serious,” I said, swapping my cartridges around. “You staying or do you want to keep running?”

Felix hesitated. “I’ll stay.” I smiled at him.

“It’s so good to see you, Felix.”

“Yeah, you too. Keeping busy?”

“Ah, a little bit. Gabe’s keeping me in line.”

Felix laughed. I loved his laugh, it always made me smile. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed him before, or how long ago it had been since I had seen him. But it was nice to have him there, and I wanted to tell him that. Before I could say any more, there was a flash above my head. Felix cursed again. The flash came again, and something shot out of the alley.

Gabe aimed for it. Felix lifted his shotgun and stared wildly around. I held my gun in a white-knuckled grip and looked into the sky. “What was that?” I asked shakily.

“That’s our guy,” Gabe said grimly. Felix nodded.

“That’s him all right.”

There was another shot, a flash of purple, but from a different place. Gabe turned, ready to fire. “Don’t shoot, I’m here to help,” came a cry, and from another side street came a woman. She had wavy, thin black hair and a pale face, and in one hand she carried a staff with a three sided, broken diamond holding the huge purple gem in place.

“Scarlet, I presume,” said Gabe. Scarlet grinned and my stomach vanished. So this was Scarlet. The legendary Scarlet who destroyed the only man she had ever loved for the sake of time and space. The bravest woman I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a lot of people in my line of work.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s the trouble? I’ve been keeping my eye on this place for a while.”

“Crawler causing trouble,” said Felix. “I’m Felix.”

“Jess.”

“Gabe.”

“Hey guys. I’ll do what I can for you, yeah? But I think we should surround him, one of us at each side street. Okay?”

Scarlet was instantly in charge. We all obeyed. After all, she knows what she’s doing. She killed the Summoner, for crying out loud. I was opposite Gabe; Felix took the north side and Scarlet the south. We stood there for what seemed like an age. My mouth was dry and my hands shaking. Then,

“MOVE!” Scarlet roared at Gabe.

Gabe lurched forwards. Both Felix and Scarlet shot and suddenly our target became visible.

It was a boy, about sixteen, with black hair and a pinched face, dressed all in white and with the purple diamond clutched in his hand. He was flying. And although the shots had hit he was still moving towards Scarlet at a phenomenal rate. Scarlet twirled the staff and shot.

He dodged and swooped higher. I shot; I missed.

“Don’t shoot at him, not until he shoots at us,” Scarlet warned. She looked at Gabe. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Bit shaken.”

“That’s okay, as long as you’re alive. Nice shot there, Felix.”

“Thanks.”

Scarlet looked warily upwards. “He’s coming back down; don’t shoot to kill,” she said. The boy looked at us and went for Gabe. Gabe gave a roar and fired. He hit. He fired again. The boy managed to deflect it, shot it back at him. Gabe ducked and Scarlet fired. “KEEP HIM MOVING!” she roared. Felix shot, I shot, and before we knew it all of the shots were disorientating and distracting the Crawler.
I don’t know how it happened, but it happened fast.

Gabe suddenly let out the biggest wave of power I had ever felt. It rocked my whole body; the ruins were alight with purple. Scarlet had struck at the same time and the diamond in her staff was gleaming. Felix shot.

The Crawler finally took a shot.

At Felix.

“FELIX!” I screamed.

I don’t know if he heard me, but I started to run towards him. Scarlet was screaming at me to stay where I was, but I stumbled towards Felix because he was the only thing I saw. I didn’t see Nick arrive and blast the Crawler out of the sky. I didn’t see Gabe sprinting towards me, or see Scarlet at the other side. All I saw was Felix as he fell to his knees and crumpled face down towards the ground.
“Felix, no!” I yelled and threw myself onto my knees, grazing them as I skidded towards him. He fell onto me. I grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him up. “Felix, don’t die, come on. Felix!”

Blood covered his whole torso, warm and horrifically red as it smeared on my arms. A trickle swelled beside his mouth and fell elegantly onto his pale skin. I tried to lift him to his feet so I could take him back home, get him fixed up, but he was so heavy all of a sudden, and he lolled. I don’t remember what I said. I was begging, I was crying. I think I was hysterical. And Felix just lay sprawled in my arms as I ordered him to stand up.

Gabe was behind me. He put his arms around my middle and started to pull me away, but I screamed and pulled, grasping at Felix like he was keeping me alive. Gabe dragged me to my feet and tore me away. I scratched his arms and kicked, but my sobs weakened me and I couldn’t bring up the nerve to run back to Felix’s body.

“Leave him, Jess,” he whispered, his breath warm by my ear. “Come on, Nick can sort him out-“

“Gabe, he needs me! Gabe, let go, please, I need to help Felix!” I cried. But Gabe didn’t let go, he just carried me away into a side street where I collapsed at his feet and cried. Gabe walked back slightly. “What happened?” I croaked thickly, looking up at him. “Why did he shoot Felix?”

Gabe said nothing. There was a darkness in his eyes that I couldn’t understand or pinpoint, and it made me cry harder. “Why Felix?” I choked. “Felix can’t die!”
“Everything has its time,” Gabe said.

I stared at him in horror. My whole body felt like icy fire, cold and yet surprisingly hot and angry. “It wasn’t his time!” I screamed. “It wasn’t! How dare you say that?”

“Because it’s true, everything has its time and that was his time,” Gabe said firmly, looking at me with steadfast determination in his eyes. “You know that. Everything dies. I’ve told you that.”

I staggered to my feet, appalled. I don’t know how I stood. My body was tingling with fury and grief and I continued to choke on tears. “Don’t say that to me,” I threatened. “Don’t you dare!”

“Everything has its time, Jess,” he said quietly.

I lifted my gun and I shot him.

Purple spattered in his shoulder. He cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, onto the wall. I don’t know why I did it. Even now, that moment is a mystery to me. But my hand instantly knew I’d done wrong. The gun clattered to the street and I howled with agony, falling against the wall. That was when Gabe started to cry, breathless and shocked.

I don’t know how long we stayed there for. I calmed down eventually, out of breath. We both were. “I’m sorry,” Gabe whispered.

“No, don’t be sorry,” I pleaded, and he began to cry again out of pain. I managed to get over to him and I held him in my arms. “Don’t be sorry, I’m sorry. What did I do that for?”

Scarlet’s silhouette stood in the alley. “Are you two okay?” she asked gently. I hesitated. The untruthful but expected answer was ‘yes’. But she probably knew it was a no before I answered. She paused. “He was unlucky. But sometimes that’s how things work out. Do you want a lift home?”

I lifted Gabe off me; his head was bowed and tears streaked it. “Can you make it home now?” I asked softly. He swallowed and nodded.

“We should leave Nick to his work,” he breathed. I nodded.

“Thanks, Scarlet.”

She smiled slightly. “It’s no problem. If it’s any consolation…” She trailed off and looked at me meaningfully. My eyes caught the staff. Ryan’s staff. There were tears in my eyes again but Scarlet knew what it was to cry, so I held them back.

“I understand,” I said. She nodded. Sadness sparkled in her eyes for a moment and her hand gripped the staff tighter.

She took us home. I helped Gabe up to the sick bay where they fixed up his shoulder. Felix’s body passed me in a dark green body bag. I watched it into the mortuary before the swing doors shut him from sight.

The sun didn’t seem so warm after that. I stood at the door to the Society, looking across the jade green grass that sparkled under the sapphire sky. There was a figure on the lawn.

Slowly, I walked up to it. It was Scarlet. As if in a dream, she knelt before the black marble headstone and laid the staff beside the grave, like Ryan was holding it beneath the earth, and she bowed her head and let her tears fall. In her hand she held a red rose and, as I had watched Nick from afar for weeks on end, she took off the old, crinkled one and replaced it with the blood red petals facing the words on the gravestone. She straightened up slightly, sniffed and wiped her eyes. I just watched her. My throat felt like it had swollen and my stomach felt cold.

Her shaking hand stroked the grass. “I don’t visit him as often as I should,” she said croakily. Her words sounded loud in the still air. “Somehow it doesn’t feel right of me to come here anymore. I don’t feel like I should be allowed to cry for him at all.”

No words came to me. I just swallowed and sniffed. My hands felt hard and bitter. Suddenly, Scarlet laughed and shook her head.

“He was a strange guy,” she said, looking up at me with her eyes shining. “Funny, clever, but so…so odd…” Her words trailed away and her hand took up the staff again.

“Do you wish – “ I stopped. Scarlet looked at me. I swallowed my pride and said it. “Don’t you wish you could turn back time and make it right? Just once?”

She stared at me. “I go back there sometimes. Sometimes I stand in the crowd and watch. Sometimes I…I look at him lying there and I can feel my legs want to go to him and my heart opens out to him, but…I know I can’t change what’s been and gone,” she said quietly. “I did the right thing. However much it hurts.”

I know she was right. I stood there beside her for maybe five minutes more, until I heard footsteps behind me. I turned. It was Gabe. The top of his shirt was open and I could see half of his shoulder bandage, blood seeping gently onto the material; the rest of his arm was in a sling. He gave me a small smile and I looked down at the ground. I felt terrible.

“Shall I leave you to it?” Scarlet said softly. I shook my head.

“No, we’ll leave you in peace,” I said, turning to her. I looked at Ryan’s grave. “Rest in peace,” I murmured, and I walked away. Gabe followed me. When we were well out of earshot and I couldn’t take the silence any longer, I said, “I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“What’s done is done.” He stood behind me, I knew he was there, but I didn’t turn to face him. He made me want to cry. “It doesn’t even hurt that much any-“

“Oh, stop it Gabe!” I cried, finally whirling around and staring at him in amazement. “Just stop it, I did a terrible thing!”

He took me into his free arm and held my body to his, pressing his forehead to mine. I stopped immediately and just stood there, my eyes half closed. His warmth soothed me. “It wasn’t a bad thing,” he breathed. “It was something done in grief. I can’t blame you for the actions of grief, Jessica.”

He was the only one who could call me that. He always has been and he always will be. I tried to speak but nothing came to me, and I couldn’t move. He just held me there. “I feel so cold,” I whispered eventually. He said nothing. He slid his cheek to mine and let my tear fall onto his skin. And we stood there, in the summer sun, as the time ticked past us, and let our pride and anguish swallow us whole, and when we opened our eyes there was no more hurt.

Everything has its time. I realise that now. But Felix needed more time. And time doesn't heal. It hurts.

So. What else do you want to know?