Relative Strangers (book 3) Nature VS Nurture

33. Bid For Freedom

Over the next few weeks, E worked closely with the newly reorganised Project Magnet team.
She helped them whenever a new anomaly opened, and made sure that no one went through, and that everything was put back.
Evan's lab was also a good place for E to do her research, far away from the prying eyes on the ARC team.
E also spent a lot of time with Evan, showing him the science behind the locking device, so that he could build his own.
She was suprised to find that he had already built a device that revealed how long an anomaly would stay open for.
Although E could already do this, the ARC never bothered creating such a device, since the team were not supposed to go through the anomalies, so they didn't need to know how long they would be open for.

After three weeks in Vancouver, E decided it was time to head back to London.
Although it would take longer, she was going to travel by plane, so that her passport would say that she was in the right place.
Since she didn't want Matt picking her up from the airport, she didn't tell him when she was coming back.
This meant that she could make her own way to his apartment when she was ready to face him.

"Ellie! You're back" gasped Matt, when E walked into the apartment that evening.
"As observant as ever I see" smiled E.
Matt and Emily got up from the sofa and each hugged E in turn.
"It's good to see you. You look well, Canada clearly agreed with you" complimented Emily.
"Thanks. I had a great time there" admitted E.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back today?" Questioned Matt.
"I wanted to surprise you" lied E.
"But I could have picked you up"
"I'm perfectly capable of getting a taxi by myself".

"I suppose you are... Me and Emily have a surprise of our own. We have some good news. We found a house that we really like, and there are several others for sale really nearby that you can choose from" revealed Matt.
"I'm glad that you've finally found somewhere that you like, after months of searching" replied E.
"Thanks. I know that you are going to love the ones that are near our house. And once you've seen them all and picked a favourite, then we can start the official moving process" announced Matt.
"I'm afraid that I will not be joining you on this little moving adventure".

Matt frowned, "But I thought you'd come around to the idea of us leaving this flat".
"I have. I think us moving out is a great idea. But I don't want to move into a house on the same street as you. I want my freedom back Matt, and I can't truely be free if I'm living a few houses away from you. Because we will still be living too close to each other" admitted E.
"If you want to get a house that is a bit further away, then that's fine. You don't have to move right next door to us or anything" informed Matt.

"I'm sorry Matt, but I need more freedom than that" revealed E.
"How much more?" Asked Matt.
"A lot... I don't want to live here, in the 21st century anymore" explained E.
"You want to leave us and the ARC?"
"Yes, and no. I don't want to be a permanent member of the team anymore. And I don't want to live in this time zone all the time. But I do want to come back regularly to see you all, and help on missions"
"What's brought this sudden change of thought on? Was it Evan Cross?"
"No. This has nothing to do with Evan. I've been feeling trapped for months, and my time away just made me realise how much I miss being free".

"But I thought you liked it here, with us" Matt said quietly.
"I do. I care about you very much Matt. You are the father figure that I never had. But every child grows up and moves out. It's a part of growing up. Some children move countries and only see their parents a couple of times a year. I plan on seeing you much more than that though. I will come back every few weeks or couple of months to spend time with you. But I don't want to be here all the time anymore. I thought I did. I thought that this was what I was searching for, but I was wrong" answered E.

"No, you weren't. You belong here with us" insisted Matt.
E shook her head, "No, I don't. And I'm getting in the way of other things. Your relationship for example. I'm stopping you and Emily from advancing to the next level. As long as I am here, you are going to be worried about me, putting my needs above everyone elses. You need to move on with your life, and not let me hold you back" replied E.
"You're not-"
"Yes, I am. We are both holding each other back, and it needs to stop".

"Where are you going to go?" Questioned Emily.
"Everywhere. There is so much out there that I haven't explored yet. You might think that I've seen everything, but I really haven't... There are things that I have to do, throughout time, that I cannot do here. There are people relying on me, and I can't neglect them any longer" admitted E.
"Don't you care about us? Or how we feel?" Asked Matt.
"Of course I do. But I have other responsibilities aside from you. It's my job to keep the timeline in check, and make sure that we don't have any more Evan Cross disasters. I took my eye off the ball, and I need to make sure that doesn't happen again" answered E.

"But that's not your responsibility. No one assigned that task to you. It is not your job to make things right throughout all of time" insisted Matt.
"Yes, it is. I was born different to everyone else for a reason. I was meant to travel through anomalies, save lives and keep things the way they should be. And it's something that I want to do, because I like doing it" replied E.
"But you're not that different anymore. Being with us makes you more normal".

"I will never be normal! And I'm sick of pretending to be, and being forced to conform to society's view of normal. I care about you, that is true. You all made me open up, and start caring about people, which is something I hadn't really done before. But the only reason I seem more normal, is because I know now what will hurt your feelings, so I don't do it. That doesn't stop me from wanting to do those things though. I'm fed up of you all holding me back, and stopping me from reaching my full potential, simply because you are overprotective. I need to free myself from this place... from you" announced E.

"I wish you had told me all this before" admitted Matt.
"I wanted to. But you guys all made me feel bad for hurting your feelings, even when I was just being truthful. You called me heartless and cruel. So I stopped talking about how I really felt" replied E.
"I'm sorry that we made you feel like that"
"It's not your fault, because I know that you didn't mean to do it. I appreciate that you worry about me a lot, but sometimes your fear gets in the way and stops us both from being the best versions of ourselves".

E raised her hand and closed her eyes, focusing on a specific place in time.
A moment later an anomaly appeared in the room beside them.
It only stayed open for a few seconds, before fading.
"How did you do that?" Questioned Emily.
"I've been practicing. I realised that there is enough radiation inside me, to create a whole new anomaly. Originally I was trying to recreate the conditions on my island, but then I discovered that I didn't have to. I can create an anomaly all by myself" revealed E.

"You experimented on yourself without me there, even though you promised not to" Matt said quietly.
"I told you earlier that I am not going to let you hold me back anymore. I wanted to continue with my research, so that's what I did. And I discovered just how amazing I can be" admitted E.
"Well then, you had better go. The future needs you... You were right, you really were made to do this job" sighed Matt.
"Yes, I was".

"I won't hold you back any longer. You are free to be the mysterious anomaly jumping girl, that you were always meant to be. Sometimes there is no fighting fate. And I don't want to put the future in danger, by stopping you from becoming that person" announced Matt.
"Thank you Matt. I know this isn't going to be easy for either of us. But this is something that we have to do, and I look forward to seeing where my future takes me" grinned E.