Time Traveler: Year 2249

Fourth of July

I decided to have everyone gather at the overwatch today. Instead of training, I had setup a surprise for everyone, and hope that they all enjoy it. I look around at everyone, as they sit in the chairs I have setup for the occasion.

"You said you had a surprise for us?" Solis asks.

"I did." I answer. "I'm not sure if you've been keeping track, but a special day in human history is coming up." I start to feel a bit nervous, but the feeling passes quickly. "This place is starting to become a second home for us. So, I felt like the best way to celebrate was Independence Day. July 4th."

"Really? The Fourth of July?" Matt asks.

"Yeah, just something fun for us to celebrate, because even if Favors knows where we are, he won't dare attack us yet." I tell them.

"Because of your Ace in the hole?" Solis asks.

"Exactly." I answer.

"So, what's so special about July 4th?" Somer asks.

"What is Independence Day?" Daniel asks.

"Right, constant state of civil war, little hard to know what independence is." I say, turning to our friends from 2239. "Fireworks." I grab a nearby torch from the wall and light the string I have nearby. The flame quickly travels up the surface and disappears from sight. We look into the sky and see something streak into the air. Suddenly it explodes and a circle of lights fly around everywhere. I hear everyone make approving noises and decide to let them enjoy the moment.

"Hey, Branden." I hear Somer say. I turn and see her pat a seat next to her. "Don't miss out on your own surprise."

I chuckle. "I spent all day preparing this surprise for you guys, I'm just gonna keep lookout, make sure that we don't get snuck up on." I go to leave, but a direwolf stops me. "Roxie, move." If the wolf could grin, it'd be ear to ear. "Why do I try telling you what to do?" I ask the wolf before whistling for my own. Rex and Roxie have grown attached and fond of each other lately. Seems like we're forming a bit of a mini pack of wolves at this rate. Rex manages to get Roxie out of my way long enough for me to get by. I hear the footsteps of a follower though. I turn and get tackled to the ground by Somer. She sits on top of me as we lay on the ground of the overwatch. "You're supposed to be watching the fireworks."

She smiles and kisses me before letting me get up. "You're much more fun to watch."

"Ouch." I say. "So, the weeks I spent putting all this together, all the time I put into this surprise and you don't like it?"

"Don't you do that to me!" Somer says, loudly. "You know what I mean."

"Alright, I'll stop picking on you." I say. "I actually had a question for you anyways." The butterflies are back. "We've been together for a while now, right?"

"Of course." She answers as we make our way around the overwatch. "Why do you ask?"

"Just don't know when or how you do marriage in your time." I say, and she almost immediately stops.

"Marriage?" She asks, turning to me.

I could feel my stomach turning into a pit. "Yeah." I say halfheartedly.

"Are you sure about that?" She asks.

"I mean, two years is a bit of time to know." I answer, still feeling the pit in my stomach. "But yeah."

"Let's wait on that." She says. "Marriage is kind of a big thing in 2239." She turns to me. "But I'm not saying no."

The pit still hasn't fallen. "There's more isn't there?"

"Possibly." She says, as we climb a tree nearby. We reach the top and sit nearby each other and watch the remaining fireworks. "You know I didn't expect all of this the day I walked through the portal, right?"

"I didn't expect to be here for five or six years either, but I know." I answer. "There's someone else, isn't there?"

"Don't be mad." She says.

"If I was mad, I wouldn't be here still." I say.

"I just need to break things off with him." She says. "Which in itself will be difficult."

"Because we're here and he's in the year 2239?" I ask.

"Exactly." She says back.

"Well, you should know that Daniel, Luna, Solis, and myself are about to lunch a mission to go to your time." I say. "Maybe I add one more person with a secret mission."

"Your going to 2239?" She asks. "How?"

"We've found Favor's base of operations." I say. "But we've been trying to figure out how to get in without them cutting off transmission to their time, like they've done so many times in the past." I lay my arm around her shoulders and she rests her head on me. "We're going to sneak in, Luna, Daniel, and myself, and take down the enter place."

"Can you three even do that?" She asks.

"Wouldn't be the first time." I answer. "We're pretty good at this." The final firework goes off and I can hear the applause from up in the tree. "How's your ability working?" I ask looking at her. She shines her orange eyes at me and I smile. "Think you can land this fall?"

"Only one way to find out." She answers. We fall and land on the overwatch and she quickly changes her eyes back to their green color before we go back to the rest of the group. "When are you leaving?"

"Ten minutes." I say. "Might want to get ready." She bolts past me and runs to her room in the overwatch. I shake my head and go to Daniel. "We got an extra coming with us."

"You really can't tell her no, can you." He asks.

"She has other business to attend to in 2239. Besides, she doesn't know what we're actually planning on doing." I say. "I hope you're all up for it."

"We can tangle with them, you know that we're ready." He reassures me, or himself.

"Go get your stuff, I'll have Matt and the others do something so they aren't worried about us." I tell him. "Go."