The Indestructibles (Book 3): The Entropy of Everything (32 page)

      "No," Jessie said. "Something new for someone new."

      "Sunlight," Emily said. "Sunlight, the heir of Straylight."

      "It feels really simple," Jessie said.

      "If she's anything like our Jane, your Solar would have loved the simplicity of it," Billy said.

      Emily gave him a strange glance, but nodded in agreement.

      "I think it fits," Emily said.

      "You were the one who suggested it, your vote doesn't count," Billy said.

      "I think it stays," Jessie said. "Sunlight. I think this world will need sunlight in the days to come."

      "You're so very right," Titus said.

      Jessie looked at Billy intensely.

      "Tell Straylight . . . tell your Dude I'll miss him," Jessie said. "I'll miss his voice in my head. But I think we'll be just fine."

     
I know she will,
Dude said in Billy's head.
I found her for a reason. I know she will be so much more than fine. All of my partners are heroes in their hearts. All of them.

Chapter 64:

Homecoming

      Jane found Doc hiding in a corner, observing everyone as they tried to return to normal.
Kate and Titus speaking with their future counterparts. Emily hounding Billy about something he'd prefer not to talk about. Jessie looking strangely lighthearted, smiling like someone who'd been unburdened by a great weight. Whispering's werewolf pack, attempting to forget, at least for a few minutes, the heavy weight of their losses, the death of so many of their tribe. There was a world to live in now, in the present, Jane thought. The melancholy and grief of those deaths will come later. But for now, these people get to exist, to live on.

      Because of us.

      "We did a good thing by coming here," she said to Doc.

      "You think so?" he said.

      Doc had found his red glasses somewhere, or another pair perhaps, and he fell back on hiding the purple flames of his eyes behind them again. He came out different after all of these recent experiences. Distant. Aloof. Remorseful. Lonely.

      Jane wasn't certain which. Maybe all.

      "It wasn't perfect. Wasn't flawless," she said. "But they get to survive another day because of our help."

      "And a lot of sacrifices," Annie said, walking up to them, wearing her own red-tinted lenses.

      "Yeah," Jane said. "We're never going to be the same after all of this, are we?" she asked.

      Annie shook her head. "No one ever goes back the same after time traveling," she said. "It's a professional hazard. Once you know the consequences of what happens in the present, everyone thinks about things differently. It's only natural."

      "I'm going to miss them," Jane said. "Is that strange? They're our friends. Just different versions of them. But I feel like they're other people. And I'll miss them."

      "Just like time splinters into different paths, so do we," Annie said. "Every decision you make or don't make, that creates a different version of you. The paths taken and not."

      "So none of us are unique in the universe?" Jane said.

      "Or all of you are," Annie said. "You might have shared a face and a blood type with Solar, but you each had your own unique life to live. There might be more than one Jane Hawkins, there might be more than one Solar, but there's only one you."

      "Does it ever stop being weird?" Jane said.

      "Not at all," Annie said. She turned to Doc. "I'm going to bring you home, but I'm going to come back here."

      He nodded. "They're running really short. They need the help."

      "I hope it's okay," Annie said.

      "You've always done what you wanted," Doc said. "And usually what you wanted was the right thing to do. I'll miss you, Annie, but you do what you have to do. And if you're able, come back to us again."

      "You'll be my anchor?" Annie said.

      Doc smiled at Jane.

      "Maybe you should make two anchors," Doc said. "Just in case."

*  *  *

      They said their goodbyes in a field outside the facility, those who would remain standing by to watch.

      Leaving his tribe for the second time, Titus had the most difficult time. He clasped hands with his future self, accepted a gentle, enveloping hug from Leto, let Finnigan, barely able to stand yet, grab him by the head and yell at him.

      "You find me, you little rug rat, you promise," Finnigan said.

      "I will," Titus said.

      "And when you do . . . you tell me not to take Gabriel for granted," Finnigan said. "Tell me that morose old fool is the best friend I'll ever have, and I'll regret it if I don't treat him as such."

      Titus threw a bear hug around the injured wolf, who slapped his back heartily in return.

      Kate spoke quietly with her future self. They whispered secrets that no one else could hear. Kate listened more than spoke, as if her future self were casting a spell and she fell under its power.

      Jane wondered what mysteries they might have imparted upon each other, what universal truths. She felt the drag, a pull, as if she'd forgotten to do something. She searched around for her own future self, hoping she'd reappear.

      "It's pretty weird, isn't it?" Emily said.

      Jane hadn't realized Emily was so close.

      "It would have been nice to at least say goodbye," Jane said.

      "Yes," Emily said. "But you know what I keep thinking? We'll become them some day. Or someone like them. Someone better. We didn't need to say goodbye. We just have to be ready to say hello when we meet them again another day, looking back at us through a mirror."

      Jane bit her lip, looked at her hands. "Still not as nice as a goodbye," she said.

      "I know," Emily said.

      Jessie and Billy walked up to them together, Jessie holding something under one arm. An essence now existed between them, Jane thought, some connection that had to come from sharing the same powers. She wondered if Billy and Kate ever felt connected for the same reason, after she'd held Billy's powers for him during that brief period. Maybe it didn't last long enough. Perhaps Kate was just too independent anyway.

      "Jane," Jessie said. "The rest of us . . . we thought you should have this."

      She handed Jane what had been in her hands. Black and white and gold fabric. Her future self's uniform. Brand new, undamaged, the gold sun emblazoned on the chest. "The wolves and I, we weren't sure if you'd want to wear it, or just keep it, but we thought it belonged with you," Jessie said.

      Jane pulled Jessie into a hug, and the younger girl accepted, holding her tight.

      "I don't know how it could be possible, but I hope this isn't the last I see of all of you," Jessie said. She looked at Billy specifically. "You take good care of Dude."

      "He's so low-maintenance. He shouldn't give me any trouble," Billy said. He still looked overpowered, Jane noticed, his eyes giving off just a little too much light, his skin more than hinting at luminescence. "Be good, Jessie."

      "You too, Billy Case," Jessie said, stepping back to join Whispering and future-Kate.

      Annie finished putting the last touches on her machinery, the gear that would help her bring them all back to where they belonged. Those who would remain behind stayed just beyond the contraption. Small waves were exchanged. Sad expressions.

      "I didn't think I'd be this sad to go," Billy said, mostly to himself.

      Jane looked over at him to see if he'd just been talking to Dude out loud, but he turned to her and gave her a small, melancholy smile. "Neither did I," she said.

      Soon the world faded to white, and they were gone.

*  *  *

      They arrived back in their own timeline in the same field they'd disappeared from. A light rain fell from a gray sky. The world felt very still, and very small.

      Then they heard a truck rumbling in the distance.

      As a unit, the Indestructibles tensed, waiting to see who approached. A black van pulled up in front of them, and the door on the far side opened.

      "You all look like absolute hell," Sam Barren said before anyone could see him. He crossed in front of the van and dropped Watson's leash, letting the little gray dog charge into their midst, diving into Billy's arms.

      "My boy," Billy said.

      Emily took Watson away from him with force to ensure she would receive dog kisses instead.

      "My boy," Emily said, giving Billy a dirty look.

      "How long were we gone?" Doc said, turning up the collar on his coat against the rain.

      "An hour?" Sam said. "Sky opened up right after you left. Went to get some lunch downtown and then the sensors we set up here alerted me you were back. You ruined my meal."

      Doc laughed, and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Good to see you again too," he said.

      "How long were you really gone?" Sam said. "How much time passed for you?"

      "Maybe a week on the other side," Annie said, gathering up her gear. Titus was moving behind her, helping, as Kate looked on frowning.

      "See, that's why I hate time travel," Sam said.

      "You're preaching to the choir, captain," Emily said. "Also I'm starving."

      Sam made a gesture toward the van. "Get in. I'm betting none of you want to fly home," he said.

      "Not even a little," Emily said. "To my chariot, Jeeves."

      The others headed for the van as well. Jane began to walk with them, but Billy caught her wrist. His hair was plastered to his forehead in the rain. She had trouble looking him in the eyes as they glowed eerily bright in the overcast daylight. "Give me a second," Billy said.

      "Not now, Billy," Jane said. "Let's go home."

      "No," Billy said. "I feel the memories fading already. They're not going to last. I thought they might be permanent but I don't know if they'll disappear, and I need to tell you."

      "Tell me what?" Jane said, suddenly feeling nauseous with worry.

      "They're both gone, the versions of us in that timeline, but some of his old memories transferred to me during that last big battle, and I have to tell someone," Billy said. "I can't keep it to myself. It just doesn't feel fair."

      "What is it?" Jane said.

      "It doesn't matter what happens here," Billy said. "We have our own futures to live. Our own lives to lead. But you need to know. That other Billy, he loved that other Jane so much. I just think you need to realize that. Because they're both gone, and because we're not them, and we'll never be them, but someone needs to understand that. Someone needs to remember that for a little while, they had something true."

      "And what about us?" Jane said. "What are we supposed to do with this? What does it mean?"

      "I don't think it means anything," Billy said. "It doesn't have to signify anything. It's just something beautiful that happened somewhere far away, and I don't want to be the only one who's aware it existed."

      "Okay," Jane said, unsure of what else to say.

      Billy smiled at her, and she couldn't tell if the water around his eyes was just from the rain, or something else.

      "Okay," he said back.

      "Let's go home, Billy Case."

      "Yeah," he said, his voice soft. "Home."

Chapter 65:

A different future

      On a bridge, in the City, Keaton Bohr looked out over the water and felt his life's work slipping away from him.

      He had such great hopes. Such great plans. I wanted to change the world, he thought. Wanted to make it a better place. And no one will ever listen.

      The university hierarchy had listened, a bit, but funding became scarce, and nobody welcomed new ideas anymore, not the radical kind, not the type that caused trouble. The Institute had challenged his theories, had placed him in an intellectual battle with his peers and superiors, and they eventually had him banished.

      He ventured into the corporate world, but his ideas were not in a category that usually generated cash. His were designed to ease the pain of the planet, to give the future a better chance at surviving, but there were few on Wall Street who were interested in paying for preventative maintenance.

      They'd stolen his ideas, though. His intellectual property. Locked them away. They all had. The school, the institute, the corporation, everyone managed to take pieces of his theories for their own benefit, most were willing to suck a drop of his blood, but no one wanted to imagine the bigger picture.

      He just needed someone to project these ideas on a broader canvas, to envision things on a larger scale.

      "You look like a guy with a lot on his mind," a stranger said to him, stopping to join Bohr on the bridge. He had a cane, and, judging from his gait, Bohr figured this man relied on it heavily in order to walk. It wasn't simply for show.

      "I'm not interested in talking to anyone right now," Bohr said.

      "Really?" the stranger said. "I think you need just the opposite."

      "Now is not a good time," Bohr said.

      "I think it's just the right moment," a second man said. Reed-thin with a perfectly groomed silver mustache, he wore a fedora and a weathered overcoat.

      "Is this a mugging?" Bohr asked. "I swear, I've got nothing."

      "You've got quite a bit to offer, but we're not here to rob you," the first man said. "We want to offer you a job."

      "Now you're teasing me," Bohr said. "It's a prank. Who sent you?"

      "The future sent us," the mustached man said.

      "What my associate means is, we'd like to enlist your services for future projects," the first man said. "My name is Henry Winter, and I'm the head of the Department of What. That grim little fellow is Agent Sam Barren."

      "The Department of What?" Bohr said.

      "That's us," Winter said. "And we're hoping you might like to come work in our think tank. I understand you've got some interesting theories on renewable energy."

      "And if I say no?" Bohr said.

      "You're not going to say no," Sam said.

      "And how can you be so sure?" Bohr said.

      "Because," Winter said. "You recognize an opportunity when you see one."