What are men to rocks and mountains

The Time-traveller's apprentice

William and Theodore sat at the Kitchen table, William with a glass of water and a cup of tea, and Theodore with an empty cup that both men pretended had tea in it as well. They had been sat there, in silence for a dozen minutes, with William still reeling from his trips to 1943 and 1944. The air was tense as the Captain tried to figure out how to approach the conversation, but so far he'd failed to come up with any opening, so he'd said nothing. The silence was broken when William spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Theo." He said defeatedly as he put his hands around his cup to try and warm them up a bit. The Captain put his own hand over Williams' warmly- it was meant well, but his hands were cold as ice, sending a shiver up William's arms.

"It's okay Havers. Will you tell me what happened?" Theodore asked, his own nerves sky-rocketing. Whatever happened, it obviously hadn't been good. He'd never quite seen his Lieutenant this shellshocked. William sighed to calm his racing heart, taking a small sip of his tea before beginning; "I went back, Teddy."

The Captain's eyebrows raised slightly, but that he wasn't all that surprised- he'd pieces together that much. But William continued. "I found this article, of someone like me. According to him we can travel through time at will, so I wanted to try it out..." He said, pausing briefly. When the Captain made no comment he continued.

"But I can't seem to control it. Twice I jumped through time, and neither of those times I ended up where I wanted to be. I-... I ended up in '43, back at Button house. I was lucky the other me was on shore leave back then." He said. The Captain pursed his lips for a moment, deep in thought.

"The fight with your sister." He said then, after a pregnant pause.
"You remember?" Havers asked, surprised. He should have known though, he had changed history by going back. It was strange though, seeing the consequences of his actions a few hours ago like this. The Captain now had memories of a fictional fight that he was told about over 75 years ago, when for William it had been hours.

"Yes. You told me to not talk about it again. I thought it was strange. I knew you were acting strange." He replied.
"I needed a cover. I never actually had a fight with my sister, luckily. I'm sorry to have lied to you, Teddy." William said, giving the other man a small smile. The Captain shook his head. "It's been ages, Will." He said, "Though I suppose not for you." He continued. William remained silent for a few more seconds, staring at the cup in his hands.

"It was strange. You were there, but you weren't... you. I wanted to tell you everything, but I couldn't. So I wanted to go home. Here. I missed the real you. But... but when I tried-" He said, getting choked up, Theodore put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed encouragingly.

"My mind wandered off... To the ambush. And when I opened my eyes I was there. I was back there Teddy." He said, his voice breaking as his eyes welled with tears again. The Captain had to swallow down the lump in his own throat at seeing his former lieutenant so broken.

"And it was me that started the ambush. The opposition saw me. And when I tried to take cover, they discovered my past self and his squad instead. It was all my fault-"
"No." The Captain said when William trailed off again, staring at his cup of tea in shame.
"William you can't blame yourself for a situation you had no control over. You didn't instruct those men to attack your squad. There is nothing you could have done."
"But, I could have-"
"Nothing has changed, Will. Everyone made it out alive, didn't they? Including you. It already happened once. If you had changed anything you wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't have jumped through time for the first time and ended up here. You would have continued about your life, growing old and dying somewhere. I would have lost you." He said, hoping his words would reach the former lieutenant. He still seemed lost in thought. He calmed himself down, he'd gotten worked up. But William nodded, agreeing silently. He grabbed the Captain's hand looking him in the eye.