Speaking of the Future...

**Monday, October 26th, 2020. Keffler House.**

Ellen sits in the living room of the Keffler house doing her best to look at any and everything but Seb’s mom. After hearing from Ernest that Seb had had a pretty rough time on their last mission, she figured it was the least she could do to say hi while he was stuck at home recovering. He’d heard her out through enough of her bullshit before that it’s probably time to return the favour—didn’t expect this to be so awkward though. Of course she’d shown up while Seb was sleeping. Of course.

*Did I know his last name was “Keffler”? I don’t think I even really thought about whether he had a last name at all…*

“Y’know, I can just come back another day, maybe like call ahead so that *this*,” she gestures to the lack of anything happening, scrunching up her face with discomfort, “doesn’t have to happen again. This one’s on me.”

“Oh not at all! It’s so nice to meet one of Sebby’s friends. We’re so glad he’s come back home to us after all that mess with his son is sorted out.” Jeanette Keffler regards Ellen warmly, a still healthy middle-aged woman with a cheerful, motherly disposition. She has eagerly welcomed Ellen in and offered her a drink and fruit before sending Rudy off to wake Seb up from an afternoon nap.

“Yup, just here to check on my good pal *Sebby*.” Ellen smiles to choke back the laughter she feels trying to force its way out of her mouth at the nickname. *Oh my god.* *Is this where Tune-up got that nickname from?*

“Did you ever meet my grandson? It seems he caused Sebby all kinds of problems.”

“Never met him, but I’ve heard some of what he got up to and *wow* talk about a handful.” Ellen relaxes into her chair and leans towards Jeanette, livened by the conversation and curious to see how much Seb’s mom knows about her possibly-future-maybe-evil-nightmare-grandson. “D’you have any stories? Do they live up to your expectations of what you thought grandkids would be like?”

“Oh, well I suppose it’s okay to talk about, now that it’s all over.” Jeanette chews on her bottom lip for a moment, staring into the distance. “Yes, it was rather strange him showing up like that; standing on the doorstep like a younger brother I’d never had. Quite the shock it was… it still doesn’t feel quite real even after all this. That’s not how you expect to meet your grandson for the first time, you know?”

“No, I get that. We have a son-brother who’s a robot? It’s complicated and, like, I don’t think we ever really expected that, but you just gotta roll with the punches, right? Like ‘Ok your grandson is here. Cool. Oh, he’s trying to kill your son? Less cool.’ Seb made it work though, so that’s good.”

“Oh my, that does sound strange.” Jeanette leans back in her chair. “Well, yes, but he had stopped doing that when he came to see us. Except it was before it all started? I don’t quite understand it, even after Denis explained it to me.” She takes a sip of tea, the saucer clinking as she sets it back.

“He explained it all, it was quite shocking; we wouldn’t have believed him but he had proof, some heirlooms he’d received that we got when we were married, but much older, pictures of an older Sebastion—very handsome he was—things like that. He told us that Sebby was going to go through some difficult things and how sorry he was for causing it all, but that it had to happen now just as it already had or else horrible things would happen, here and there. It was all a lot to take but… we just tried our best; to be there and support him when he needed it, and give him space when he needed that too. Oh it was so awful when he stormed out of here.” she leans over to a box of tissues, falling quiet as she dabs at her eyes and gently blows her nose.

“You did all a parent, or I guess grandparent, could do, and sometimes that’s just gotta be enough.” Ellen pats Jeanette on the forearm. “I’m sure it meant a lot to him. Hell, probably both of ‘em.”

Something pulls at Ellen’s heartstrings seeing Seb’s mom tear up like this; she’s reminded of why she still hasn’t tried to see her parents since coming to the future.

“Son of a bitch...” Seb’s voice comes from the hallway, followed by a sigh as he makes his way into the room and flops onto the couch. He looks worn down and very thin. “That was why you guys were so weird about it all?”

“Sebastion!” Jeanette whirls around with a motherly glare which affects him not at all. Her features soften again soon enough. “Yes. What else were we supposed to do?”

“Yeah I know…” Seb looks over at Ellen “This is why you don’t mess around in your own timeline. It just causes headaches.” he smiles a little. “Hey.”

“Hey dude. Also, *kinda* late for that advice.” Ellen chuckles as she looks over Seb; he always seemed kind of over everything, but right now he looks exhausted. “Congrats on making it out alive. How ya holding up?”

“I mean, the first time I met you was when you showed up here, so it was already too late.” He shrugs, adjusting the cushions on the couch to make himself comfortable. “I’m pretty much fine just… I think it’s all the time in the void finally catching up to me. Living out of a Denny’s kitchen for months can’t have been good for me… especially with all the working out I did to keep myself going. So yeah, turns out I’m pretty malnourished all of a sudden.”

Jeanette sniffs derisively at the Denny’s comment “Yes well, speaking of, I’d better go work on dinner. Excuse me.”

Ellen sees Jeanette off with a small wave before leaning into Seb and hissing at him. “A fucking Denny’s kitchen? Dude, did you miss the part where there’s a whole fuckin’ base with rooms and kitchens and shit? Wh- why? Just… why?” Seb had always seemed like such a reasonable, level-headed person that this kind of I’m-a-teenager-who-ran-away-from-home, don’t-want-to-admit-I-need-anyone’s-help kind of bullshit was hard to believe coming from him.

“Uhh, right, Jenny was the only person I showed that to. There was a Denny's in the weird void dimension where I was trapped; it was the only reliable source of food there. I’ve been eating properly since I got back but… time weirdness.” he shrugs

“That’s the best explanation I’ve got. Channeling all the energy I needed to shift the Zodiac roots probably wasn’t any good for me either, but malnutrition only makes sense as a delayed reaction from being trapped beyond time for months.”

“Not much you can do about that now, I guess,” Ellen deflates and falls back into her seat, mirroring Seb’s posture, “but at least you’ll be able to move around easier without T-1000 Jr. trying to kill you all the time.” She punctuates the reassurance with a thumbs up for good measure.

“The food wasn’t the worst thing, but it was up there. I didn’t really know what I was doing...” He fiddles with the frilled edge of one of the cushions decorating the couch. “Yeah, it would have been nice if I’d known what his deal was earlier… but then I also think I wouldn’t really have reacted the same way without everything I went through. Most of it was pretty good too, out there and the stuff with the big team.”

“So what brings you over anyway?” He asks after a few moments of silence have elapsed. “You must have talked with Ernest or someone right?”

“Yeah, Ern said you’d had a hell of a time so I figured I’d come say hi. Definitely texting first if I decide to drop by again,” she leans over to catch a glimpse into the kitchen, “but it’s no big deal. ‘Sides, I’ll probably just catch you around the base or wherever once you’re less dead, right?”

“Well, you helped uncover why my parents were so weird about everything this whole time. So thanks for that.” Seb is particularly still as Ellen mentions the base.

“Uhh… probably not. I think I’m done. Burnt out all my powers fixing things and without the threat of Quantum Knight hanging over my head I think I can actually have a bit of a normal life?”

Ellen blinks a few times, surprised. “Oh. Yeah, right.” She shifts in her seat, wondering if she should say something else, but… what? *I’m not gonna tell him to stay on the team. Hell, pretty sure we wouldn’t be here right now if we didn’t get pulled back. Done, huh?*

“So what’s normal for you?” She crosses her legs up on her chair, holding on to her shoes, looking at Seb intently and genuinely curious.

“Not a clue. I do know what I want to do. I said it to… Ernest or Melody… I forget which, maybe both. Big Team was great and all but it’s like a bandaid, we deal with the bad guys, and aliens and whatever, and that lets us figure out who we want to be, but… just look at Bishop. We stopped them how many times, doing straight up eco-crimes and what happened to them? They fired their CEO and are still going along. Maybe they’ve improved, or maybe they’re just being more subtle about it. Either way just beating up their goons was good, but it didn’t get much done.”

“Now, uh, I don’t think I have the temperament to become a lawyer or something like that, but I can work on making things a bit better. So many of the people we dealt with were just dumb kids; the whole Gambite thing was because the bad guys were taking advantage of kids who were upset about the status quo, but didn’t know how to fix it. So I wanna work on that; follow in Crossover’s footsteps a little. It may not change the world, but if I can help put people on a better path then that’s a good step in the right direction.”

“Holy shit, dude. Have you been thinking about that this whole time?”

“For a while… I’m actually older than I look because of time stuff, and I had a lot of time for reflection after Gambite, and then lately when things seemed to be coming to a head.” Seb smiles.

Ellen rests her chin on her hand and smirks. “So what, you gonna run for mayor next?”

“Nah, not mayor. Just like… a social worker: someone in the community, working with people who need help and trying to make a difference that way. I think I’ll do more good that way than trying to keep up with Big Team.”

Ellen nods, impressed by the practicality of the idea. “Makes sense. All this hero crap does kinda feel like you’re chasing shit you can’t see all the time, and then when you finally catch up it’s a fucking dragon or something. It’s all just so reactive, y’know?”

“Yeah exactly. It’s treating the symptoms, not the problem. It’s important of course, but if I can help stop kids turning to villainy in the first place, and maybe even join the side of good for some of 'em, then that’ll be way more impactful than I could do jumping around buildings and trying to punch people on my own.”

By this point, Ellen has made herself entirely at home, slung across the chair like she’s never seen someone sit normally in a chair before, kicking her feet over one of the armrests. “At least Big Team is fun though, y’know? Like, yeah I’m not saying it’d be better to have someone out to get you again, but there’s gotta be some part of the whole ‘time and dimension travel hero’ thing that you liked. You’re not gonna miss any of it?”

“Of course there is, we both know how amazing the universe is right? But this is Halcyon, plenty of that stuff comes to us anyway, so I’m sure there’ll be opportunities to wade into it. I mean, Cyclone just got his powers back after doing this kind of thing for a few years, so who knows what’ll happen, especially given that both versions of my kid are apparently pretty remarkable; I doubt I’m going to have a boring life.”

“Are you bragging about your doesn’t-exist-yet kid? Oh my god, you’re such a dad!” Ellen laughs, hands folded over her heart. “Y’know what? Here’s hoping you have an easier kid to deal with this time around. Like, maybe he can just run away from home like normal kids instead? And if he manages to figure out the whole ‘time and space’ thing, me and Tay can look out for him for ya.”

“Yeah, it’s still weird to think about. Makes dating real strange; kinda wish I could just forget about it for a while.” Seb sighs, having made himself comfy on the couch he leans back to stare up at the ceiling. “So you’re not planning on heading back to the '90s again? Fuck causality and all that?”

“What’s the point of going back now? Not like time isn’t already super fucked up, and last time we tried going back it sucked. Plus,” Ellen crosses her arms and pouts slightly, “if the others don’t have to go back to wherever the hell they’re from, I don’t see why I should have to. Responsibility can kiss my ass.”

“Why did it suck? You were just trying to tell me how much I’d miss time and space shenanigans if I gave up heroing.” He points out, rolling over to smirk at her.

“That wasn’t time and space shit, that was just… being normal again. ‘Cept it wasn’t normal, it was weird, and not in a cool way. It was like…” Ellen grumbles while she tries to think of a comparison, “I mean, it’s gotta be like when you got back here, sort of. Like, you’re home, and it looks like home and all the people are the same, but really all the people are different because *you’re* different. So yeah, it was like that for a year.”

She squirms in her seat. “A year of pretending to laugh, a year of not being able to talk to anyone except each other about so many things, a year of just feeling… out of place. And, like, don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t give Tay up for anything. I don’t know where I’d be now if it weren’t for her, but I’m still pretty sure I wouldn’t still be at ‘home’. I’d’ve left, like I wish we could now.”

“Oh huh… for some reason I thought you never actually made it back to where you wanted to go.” Seb murmurs, rolling onto his back again as he falls silent. “It wasn’t quite the same for me, but I do get what you mean… You do all that growing on your own, and for me… well you know how I’ve been; I’m surrounded by people from the team, half who I barely know and this is going to sound awful, but most of them are so… immature, reckless. Carefree...”

“There’s nothing wrong with that though! That’s normal! But… yeah, it’s alienating. It’s also just life. It’s complicated, it’s messy, it’s unfair, you just… have to find the things that matter, that are important to you and build your life around that. You’ve got Tay, and I wish I was half as fortunate in that department. What about the orphanage? Future You obviously cares about it, but how do you see it? An obligation, or an opportunity?”

“Man, I don’t know. Not like it’s our place. But Tay’s talked about having somewhere like that before. Y’know, before she came to Halcyon and all she kinda lived in this like… vampire-family-house-club-thing,” Ellen moves her hands around in the air as if to define the shape of something invisible to both herself and Seb, “and it was cool for a minute, until she found out that everyone there was an asshole and she left. So I know it’s super important to her to make a… nice… house like that. For kids, or any people I guess, like her who get lost or don’t have anywhere else to go. And I wanna help her with that, it just doesn’t sound like something that’d be super easy to travel around with all the time, y’know?”

“Although I don’t even know why I’m talking like we *could* just up and go. Stupid fucking time locks.” Ellen puffs, blowing her bangs up from her forehead for a moment. “*This* is why I hate thinking about the future. And why are we even talking about me and Tay anyway? You’re the one who's 'sposed to be getting better here.”

“It’s not your place *yet,*” he interjects, but then lets her talk, turning her words over in his head. The two of them came from pretty different places, and had different ideals, but they’d helped each other out on a few missions, and apparently both knew what it was like to feel out of place because of time discrepancies. Seb definitely considered Ellen a friend.

“Sounds like our plans aren’t too different; we both want to help improve things for the next generation. You’re right, that doesn’t suit a nomadic lifestyle though… unless the house travels as well. You ever run into a pocket plane or other extradimensional space?” He shrugs as she tries to turn the topic back to himself.

“Also, because I’ve pretty much decided what I’m going to do; it sounds like you’re still working on it. Time locks, hmm, did you ever meet Doc? I don’t think he’s left yet, or perhaps even better I could try to get word to Quantum Knight? He might be a bit busy cleaning up his world, but he broke through every lock and barrier Doc threw at him, so he might be able to help.” he’s grinning at Ellen again.

“Listen, whoever you’ve got, I’ll talk to ‘em: your doctor guy, murder-son, I don’t care. Hell, we got shot with a time gun the other day just to see if that would work—it didn’t, by the way—so clearly we’re open to what the fuck ever.” She glares at Seb, the corners of her mouth turning up to mirror his smile.

“See, when you said you ‘wanted to be a social worker’ or whatever, I thought you meant *later*. What happened to recovering, dude? We can figure out my life problems when you look less like you’re gonna die. C’mon, I have like 4 friends, don’t start dropping like flies on me already.”

“Pfft, I’m not that bad, just a bit weak. If there was anything major wrong with me I’d still be in the hospital; dad has a real solid health plan.”

“Time gun? Well I can get Doc easily enough, Quantum might be a bit tougher, but I’ll give it a try once I’m back on my feet; it shouldn’t be much longer.” Seb smiles again, even in just the last few days his condition had improved. He begins to type a message to Doc Infinity into his phone. “What exactly happens when you try to travel? I assume you just rebound back to 2020? Is there any backlash? Spatial displacement? Surprisingly I’ve never actually encountered Dr. Doorheart, he’s pretty much left me alone since we thwarted the contract he put out on me.”

“Count yourself lucky,” Ellen scoffs. “We always took Doorheart for just some kinda goofy dork, but I guess when they decide to get serious he can really fuck with your life. Y’know, I think we were doing whatever we wanted for so long that we even forgot—or at least I did—what it was like to *not* just fuck off to whatever time we want. And now we just… can’t. Noodle tried out a thingy he stole from a ‘cake Doorheart’ on us, and nada. We don’t ‘bounce back’ or 'spatial' anything. Nothing happens. We just stay put. And he showed us this, like, weird static chain between Tay and me and it would flare up like crazy when he tried to use the time thing on us. So I guess if either of your guys have any time bolt cutters, that’d be rad.”

“Hrmm, that’s unusual… so less a barrier and more like… transparency? You can’t interact with them at all?” Seb taps away a few minutes longer at his phone, looking up to frown at her description of the chain. “Hrmm, it’s strange I never noticed it… I guess if it’s only active when you’re interacting with temporal events then I probably wouldn’t have. My sensitivity was more attuned to spatial distortions anyway…”

Ellen runs a hand through her hair, pulling at the ends at the back of her neck. Her hair is getting long again and she gets that sinking feeling in her chest that she gets when faced with the reality that time is passing her by again. It’s not a feeling she likes.

She sighs and looks back up at Sebastion. “Hey, Seb? Thanks for this man. I know I never really found a way to help you with your whole deal and you really don’t have to be helping us with this and it’s… I really appreciate it. We both do.”

“Heh, of course Ellen. I guess I never really said it, but there were only a few people on the team I actually felt close with. You, Ernest, Melody, now Jenny. Ryan’s cool too and Challenge… well who knows what she’s actually thinking. I hope we can stay in touch, even if we do manage to fix this time lock business. Doc can hook you up with something for that too if you want. So… yeah, always happy to help out a friend.” he gives her a warm smile. “We should hang out, I should get to know Tay more.”

“Yeah, dude. Same. Maybe we’ll stop by one of your craft things at the community center some time; they keep trying to get Tay to move her old coffin outta there anyway so we’ll probably be around at some point. Oh, wait!”

Ellen slides halfway off the chair to reach her bag, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth while rummaging through the junk.

“Yeah, it’s a good place and has been a big inspiration to me. I think it’d be awesome if I could have my own place like that some day… just need to figure out how to pay for it. Was kinda thinking about asking you to take some cash back to the '90s with you and invest it actually.” He laughs and pushes himself up to see what Ellen is doing.

“Pffft, I can’t believe you and Tay don’t already hang out. She said the same thing when we left. Now where the fuck is- Aha!”

“I mean, long term compound interest is significant. Very morally questionable, but… so is capitalism.” He stares at the… thing she pulls out in confusion, before softening and taking it gently when she offers it to him.

Triumphant, Ellen produces a plush figure from the depths of her backpack. About 8 inches tall, grey and blocky with messy knitted stitches here and there, and a swirl of sparkly purple yarn sewn into the back of the torso. “Tune-up stopped by the base looking for you. She heard you were laid up and wanted to give you something to cheer you up. It’s Scrap-Scrap, ‘cept you can swear around this one; I’ve tried.” She winks at Seb.

“Ah, well… she tried at least.” He smiles anyway, gently untangling some of the yarn and massaging the doll back into a more reasonable shape “Succeeded on the cheering part. She’s a treasure.

“Right? Man that kid is cute. I’d’a brought her with me but she said she has school now. Oh fuck, hey what time is it?” Ellen scans the room for a clock.

“Yeah, she’s special.” Seb quirks an eyebrow as he checks his phone. “Uhh, like 2:30?”

“Shit,” she stumbles to her feet, grabbing the backpack, “I promised Noodle I’d take Lugnut for a walk so he could concentrate during a test. I gotta run, dude. I’m already late.”

“Who’s Noodle? Alright, uhh, I’ll let you know when I hear from Doc, probably be a day or two. See ya!”

"Yeah, dude! Not like we're going anywhere, right?" Ellen shouts from the doorway, slamming it behind her as the sound of the bike peeling away follows seconds after.