Relative Strangers (book 3) Nature VS Nurture

24. Back On Track

On the way to her lab, E decided what she was going to do to try and fix the mess that she had created.
Once there she quickly began to type in the correct co-ordinates onto her watch, so that she would be able to get back to Canada, only moments after she left.
She knew that she had to return there, because she wouldn't be able to sleep for the next few months, not knowing what was going to happen when the timelines caught up with each other.
Before going back there though, she planned on going to her house where she stored all of her costumes and weapons, so that she would be more prepared this time around.

But just before she got a chance to press the button on her watch, Matt burst into the room.
"Don't go" begged Matt, who seemed to know what E's intentions were.
"I have to" admitted E.
"Please don't do this. We will find a way through this together. You can't do this all by yourself" replied Matt.
"Actually, I can. I was good at solving problems before I came here. So I'm sure that I will be able to solve this one without you"
"You can't just leave me like this. We need to talk about this properly"
"The time for talking is over. I'm sorry Matt. But the future is more important than our friendship, and I can't have you holding me back anymore".

Before he could stop her, E created an anomaly to her house and stepped through, closing it quickly behind her so that Matt couldn't follow.
She immediately picked out a black outfit and put it on, leaving her ARC jacket on the sofa, since she did not want to be associated with the ARC, while on her mission.
E then opened another anomaly, and jumped through, landing back at the military operation in Canada.

Just as she was brainstorming ideas to get the Albertosaurus through the correct anomaly, Evan and his team charged past her, using flamethrowers to usher the dinosaur back through the anomaly.
Although this made her life much easier, E wanted to make sure that the creature went back through, since she no longer trusted Evan.
She followed them through the anomaly and into the anomaly junction, just in time to watch the Albertosaurus run into the anomaly that lead to Evan's past, just in time to murder his wife.

"I guess I always made it happen, and I just never knew" admitted Evan sadly.
"You can't think like that" replied Dylan.
"No. You did what had to be done. You had to let your wife die" informed E, as she approached the group.
"You came back?" Questioned Evan.
"Yes. I couldn't just leave, knowing about the situation here. But it seems like you did my job for me, by putting the dinosaur back through. That can't have been easy for you, so I'm proud of you. You corrected the thing that you had changed. So hopefully everything is back on track now" admitted E.

"Wait! If the other me isn't there, who is going to save your life?" Asked Mac.
"No one. But I'm O.K with that. This time I will die with Brooke" answered Evan.
"No. You have to survive. Otherwise this entire timeline will collapse" reminded E.
A sad look crossed over Mac's face as he began to head towards the anomaly.
"Mac, no!" Shouted Evan, when he realised what Mac planned to do.
"It was nice knowing you Evan. Visit my body in the freezer from time to time and talk to me if you like" replied Mac as he walked through the anomaly to his death, in order to save Evan.

"No! I've got to stop him" yelled Evan, as Dylan pushed him back.
"You can't. This is a decision that he made 6 years ago, and you can't change that" replied Dylan.
"She's right. You have to let things play out the way they did last time" insisted E.
"He was a stranger, and I made him into a friend" sobbed Evan.
"Yes, I'm still not happy about that, but I can't undo what you did" replied E.
"I didn't mean to change anything. I went looking for the family of the man who saved my life, to thank them, and I found him alive. I wanted to repay him for his sacrifice, so I gave him a job. I wanted to try and save him"
"You changed the course of his life. He was going to be an ARC soldier eventually, but instead you made him work for you. This time around he is dying for someone he cares about, and not a stranger".

E removed an anomaly detector from her bag, which was identical to the one Evan had kept hold of for 6 years.
"The ARC version of Mac had an anomaly detector with him, but this one does not. So I had better throw mine through the anomaly, to try and keep the timeline more similar to the original one" continued E, before throwing the detector through the anomaly.
"He saved my life. And now he's dying in my arms" admitted Evan.
"You can't change what happened, and you shouldn't try to" replied E.

"I know. But I just wish that- Oh shit!" Yelled Evan as he pushed the girls to the side, just in time to stop them from being killed by the Albertosaurus which charged back through the anomaly seconds later.
Evan then angrily began firing at the creature, with his gun, until it lay dead on the floor.
"You really shouldn't have done that. You're not supposed to kill the creatures" sighed E.
"I know" admitted Evan.
"But I really can't begrudge you one dinosaur, since it did kill your wife and your best friend" replied E.
"Thank you"
"You're welcome".

"Are you going back home now?" Asked Dylan.
E shook her head and looked back at the anomaly that lead to Canada.
"No. We may have corrected the timeline, but I can't go home, knowing that those soldiers and scientists under Colonel Hall, are going to continue going into anomalies to bring back creatures to dissect them in their lab" admitted E.
"You don't have to worry about Colonel Hall any more, because he got killed by the Albertosaurus while we were chasing it" revealed Evan.

"Well, that is good to hear. But that doesn't mean that my mission is over. This military operation will continue without Hall, for he was only a Colonel, and not the top dog. A lot needs to change before I will be happy enough to go back home" informed E.
"I don't know how you are going to stop them from going through anomalies, but I wish you good luck" replied Evan.
E turned to face the anomaly before looking over her shoulder at Evan, "Thank you".
She then marched forward and headed back through the anomaly, removing some of her weapons as she went, since her way of dealing with things involved a lot of people ending up dead.