Seventh 2 Survive (WAYHAUGHT)

32-18.3.4

Waverly had her back to Haught, body tingling with nervous excitement making sleep difficult. That, and her brain trying to process what had happened in the last twenty four hours. She heard Haught turn over, deciding neither was going to get much sleep. She shuffled her body to face in the direction of gorgeous eyes.

"How did you know where I'd be?" she said, gazing into pools of chocolate.

"News articles," Haught replied, taking in Waverly's features. "You made the headlines."

"Can I see?"

"Not now. That was then, a then that no longer happens."

"Okay. Nope, no comprendo."

Haught sat up, Waverly's eyes lingering over her naked upper body, liking what she saw. "My original mission was to stop you from being killed by a car close to the university."

Waverly joined her sitting up. "Say that again."

"Your death was the reason for me being here."

"My death." Waverly's full attention was now on Haught's face, wondering why this nugget of information had been left out of the recap of events. "When?"

Nicole paused to think. "Three days from now."

"Err...I'm going to die?"

"Hopefully not. This latest adjustment should cancel out the first set of events. Although, there's still the small matter of saving the world which needs to be factored into the calculations."

Waverly caught only the last part, the part about saving the world. "Err...okay."

"I've had time to think this through."

"How long?"

"About eighteen months, three weeks and four days."

Waverly snorted. "How many hours?"

"Seven."

"You waited all that time to come here to rescue me."

"I had to. I was the one who caused all this."

"Sorry, caused? You weren't the one driving the car were you?"

Haught tilted her head, sending a shockwave through Waverly's body. "No, but I am responsible for Wheeler's death."

Waverly edged away. "Err...run that by me again."

"I wasn't the one who shot him," she added. "My violation of Code 7 sealed his fate. Should have realised."

Waverly was now wearing a blank expression, mouth ajar.

"That's the trouble with time travel. Has a tendency to get tangled if you mess with it. Things end up happening out of sequence, which make them look wrong when viewed as a linear progression of events. It's only when viewed in a non-linear way they begin to make sense."

"And now I'm totally lost. Who killed Wheeler?"

"Possibly a tracker," Haught replied.

"So, I definitely didn't kill him. Thank fuck for that. I'd convinced myself I had. Wait, the gun."

"Time travel."

"You're saying someone stole the gun, shot Wheeler with it, then framed me for his murder."

Haught nodded.

Waverly let out a sigh. "Okay, okay, I'll buy that. Now, saving the world, run that by me again."

A knock on the bedroom door elicited a scream from Waverly. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," Haught replied.

The young monk's head peeked round the door. "I've made a start on the calculations. Another few hours and I should be ready."