Willow didn’t have the time to hear the full story. But she knew Diana wasn’t faking it.The woman wasn’t lying about her daughter and son-in-law being in danger. The rest of the details didn’t matter. She had to find the device, if she still had it, and if not, it would be time to think outside the box.Willow assured Diana that she would find the device, not sure how but she did her best to convince the anxious mother and watched as she left, hoping to get in contact with someone she knew, someone who could help fight this organization if need be.Willow could only guess for now, but she would bet her everything on that someone being Simon Walsh. Not that it was her concern to know who Diana trusted or not. She had a job to do, and she would have to put her everything into it.After Diana left, Willow stormed into her room and started rummaging through the drawer of her nightstand and the floor. If she could only find that damn device, everything would be just fine. She tried to sea
Willow sat in her car and stared at the steering wheel, her fingers curled around it. “You probably think I’m crazy, don’t you?” She asked, turning to see Dan sitting in the passenger seat, staring at her. “Don’t even try to lie. I can read it on your face.” Dan shook his head, his expression calm and unreadable. He looked out the window, staring up all the way to the roof of the mansion. “No. I don’t think you’re crazy. I just think you’re…well…not like others.” Willow snorted at that. “That’s one way to put it.” “Come on,” he sighed, looking back at her. “You can’t blame me for thinking that. I mean, you did just tell me everything about the device, the reality shifts, the whole thing with Diana Price, and the organization, and the fact that you have travelled through time.” She frowned, not liking his tone. “I told you because you wanted to know. You literally fucked me into the wall,” she could still feel her core tingling after he’d fucked her twice in the same night. “You wa
Jasper looked like he was ready for a war.His brows were furrowed, his lips were thinned and his eyes were sleepy, even though he was nursing a hot mug of coffee.Willow and Dan sat in the living room, across from Jasper himself. Next to him sat his beautiful yet equally furrowed wife, although she looked partly worried if that made the whole situation any better.“So,” Jasper started, letting out a deep breath. “You came here, at this hour,” he checked the time on the wall as if his expression hadn’t already given away his much-felt annoyance. “…because Ronin and Carmen’s life is in danger.”As if on cue, Molly grabbed her phone for the hundredth time since they shared the reason for their arrival and dialled for Carmen. Probably. She shook her head when no one answered. “No one’s answering. Jasper I’m starting to get worried now. Maybe it’s not a prank like you think.”“You think we are playing a prank?” Willow blurted out, not able to believe the two of them would translate their
Alice was standing next to her mom, her eyes fixed on the two strangers sitting across from them. Her forehead was creased, and she looked tired. Willow felt bad for waking her up. If it weren’t life and death, she wouldn’t have bothered her.“Hi, Alice,” Willow greeted her softly. “I’m sorry for waking you up like this, but we really need your help.”Alice rubbed her eyes sleepily, yawning loudly. “It’s okay, Aunt Will. What happened?”Willow swallowed hard, unsure of how to explain it to the child without scaring her. She glanced at Dan, hoping he would help her, but he simply shrugged and leaned against the wall behind him. She almost rolled her eyes, almost. The man had lost his brain somewhere between coming here and spilling out the truth.She looked back at the girl, and exchanged an uncertain glance with Molly, before sighing. “Sweetheart, you have so many toys, right? Do you think you ever stumbled upon something that looks like a rectangular box with lots of buttons on it? I
“Are you serious right now?” Diana asked, as she glared at Willow and the man standing behind her.After leaving Jasper’s place, Willow was quick to call Diana and asked her to meet at Carmen’s home address. Diana had asked what the hell she was trying to do, but Willow didn’t have time to explain, she was trying to put the pieces together herself, but for now, that was all she had.Willow brushed the back of her neck, looking around and noticing how late it was, how nothing seemed real anymore, and everything was just messed up. “I think I am?” She said, suddenly not so sure anymore. But then she shook her head. “Look, you have to trust me on this. This is the only explanation as to why I didn’t have the device on me after I returned. Ryan has to have it.”But Diana wasn’t so sure if Willow was making literally any sense at all. I mean, what were the chances? It felt so unreal and ridiculous. Their one mistake could cost the lives of the two people they held dear. But then again, Wil
While Diana paced the sidewalk, talking over the phone and doing her best to explain everything to (hopefully) Simon, Dan grabbed Willow’s arm and dragged her to the side. Once they were out of Diana’s earshot, a deep frown crossed his ruggedly handsome face. “Did you just lie to her?” Willow had no clue what he was talking about. “About what?” Dan grunted, but held himself from shaking her by the shoulders, telling her to not be so blissfully ignorant. “About the device. You told her that Carmen gave it to Alice—or her child—however you put it. But the truth is that you stole it, isn’t it? You stole it from Carmen. That’s at least what you told me.” Willow bit her lip and averted her eyes. Dan was right. She had stolen the device from Carmen. She had taken it because when Alice told her about the device, she had decided to humor herself and see if things like that could really exist. She was curious. She had to know. She shook her head, glancing over her shoulder and noticing Dia
Carmen wasn’t sure what was happening.One moment, Ronin and she were sleeping peacefully, and the next, their home was being invaded by men who looked anything but friendly. Two of them even held guns at their faces and forced them out of their bedroom.Now, it had been hours, and Ronin and she were still sitting on the couch, not allowed to move, not allowed to talk, not even allowed to check up on their son.It was killing Carmen.The thought that her baby boy was somewhere upstairs, all alone and scared. She needed to go to him, hug him, and assure him that everything was going to be okay. But she couldn’t. Those men had refused to let her do anything.Alas, she had no choice but to try. It was almost dawn, and if Ryan came downstairs looking for them, those men might hurt him. She couldn’t risk that. She had to make sure her child was safe.Carmen shot to her feet, startling Ronin beside her. “I need to see my son,” she declared.Ronin stood up too, but before he could say anythi
Hours passed but nothing new happened. Ronin, Carmen and Diana still sat in the living room, waiting.Diana sighed and rubbed her temples. She knew Simon would do something about the situation, mostly because he always kept his word, and he had said that he would take care it, then she had no other reason but to believe him.But as the time slipped by, and nothing changed, she was starting to have doubts.What if he didn't make it in time? What if Ryan woke up and came downstairs? What if these men lost their patience and decided to shoot someone? Diana shuddered. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't be able to live with herself."How long, mom?" Carmen asked, and Diana almost winced at the question. She knew what her daughter was trying to ask, and if Diana were to be honest, she was beginning to believe that maybe handing over the device was the best choice they had. It was better than putting her family in danger.She sighed. "Soon."Carmen shook her head and leaned against
After seeing off her parents, Grandpa Edgar—who had been on bed rest ever since his last attack—, Eric and Ronin, Willow sat in the car with Carmen, while Molly sat in the back. None of the kids came to the airport with them.For a long while, no one said anything. But then, Molly broke the silence with a very strange question. “So, just to be sure, does that time-traveling device really work?”Carmen scoffed while Willow wasn’t sure what to say. In the past month, she had been experiencing a bit of memory lapse. She remembered a lot of things, but certain incidents felt like a dream now, like a movie she had watched and forgotten about, and now couldn’t even recall the title or the story.She shrugged. “Maybe? Maybe not? Who cares? I’m just glad we got rid of it.”“Yeah,” Molly nodded in agreement. “True. But still, though. Imagine having a device like that. What do you think, Carmen? Do you think the world would have benefited from something like that?”Carmen kept her eyes on the ro
Willow sat in her room, staring at their family photo that was taken at Carmen and Ronin’s home party a month ago, the day when they announced their second pregnancy.Such a happy day it was.Sure, it was followed by all kinds of bad things, with Lewis Ladder trying to be the mean bastard and wanting his revenge on Diana, to make her pay for what she stole from him. But in the end, everything was fine again. They all made it safe and sound, and no one was terribly hurt. Simon Walsh had disappeared all over again and Diana was back to being secretive about her relationship with that son-of-a-bitch.Well, not that it mattered right now.Willow was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the knock on the door.When she looked up from the photo she was staring at, she was surprised to find Ronin’s head peeking inside.He looked so silly doing that, it reminded her of their childhood.She scoffed, shaking her head. “Come on, inside. No need to be creepy for so long.”“Thank God,” he fake
The next morning, Jasper and Molly arrived early morning at the Logan’s old mansion. Behind them, Ronin and Carmen got out of their car too.Alice and Ryan squealed seeing each other and before anyone could stop them, they took off inside, ignoring the calls of everything behind them.“God, these kids!” Molly gushed, shaking her head. “They don’t know how to take a pause, do they?”Carmen chuckled, giving Molly a side hug. “Of course, they don’t. Did you forget already? You were just as hyperactive if not less. Did you tell Jasper about that one time when you got lost in the next neighbourhood?”The mention of the incident caused Molly’s cheeks to warm and turn pink. She shoved Carmen away. “No? And he doesn’t need to know.”“What’s not to know?” Appeared Jasper from behind, locking the car and staring at them with strange curiosity, assured that he just missed on something worth knowing.Molly groaned. “Nothing,” she glared at Carmen, silently warning her to not say another word or e
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Simon asked while Diana stared ahead, arms crossed over her chest.“I have to,” she shrugged, not taking her eyes off the building in front of them. The one that was shut down by the government aeons ago, realizing that the time travelling device held more dangers than they were equipped to handle, and that the money put into such a project was better spent somewhere else.Perhaps they were right. Perhaps the world wasn’t ready for such advancements just yet.Perhaps they would never be. And that was okay.“This is the only way we can put an end to this madness for real.”Simon hummed, nodding slowly. “Well then, what are you waiting for? Let’s do the honours.”Diana breathed in a deep breath, realizing it was time. She took out a small remote from her purse and pressed the only red button on it.In the next moment, there was a loud explosion and the building before them blew up in a huge blast of fire, taking everyone and everything with it.———“What
*One Month Later*Willow sat in her car and stared at the lone gate standing in the middle of nowhere.“Alright. You can do this,” she said to herself and took a deep breath. But then she frowned, biting her bottom lip. “Or maybe you shouldn’t. It’s not like, you know, he cares.” But what if he did? What if this could still work?She didn’t know. Oh God, she didn’t know anything.After that incident with Diana a month ago, it took weeks to get everything back to normal. As Willow had already feared, Diana slowly forgot everything about the time traveling and their conversation about it. The only thing she remembered, and so did everyone else, was talking about the device, stealing it, hiding it, and trying to protect it from getting into the wrong hands. But no one actually remembered doing it. If that made any sense at all.Willow had no idea what exactly the science behind it was, but she was the only one who remembered. Or at least, she remembered a little bit of it. The truth was e
“STOP IT RIGHT NOW!”Simon’s deep voice rumbled throughout the house, leaving not a single person untouched. From the look on his face, it was clear he had hell in his mind. And why wouldn’t he? The sight in front of him was not only disgusting but a complete disaster.In one corner of the house, Carmen stood with her hands tied above her head to a rope that connected her to the fan.In a different corner, Ronin was held back by two men, while a third man aimed a gun at his temple. Simon noticed Ronin had been shot once in the shoulder, and now blood had soaked a part of his shirt completely. At the top of the stairs, there was a very teary, very distressed little boy, held tightly by another giant-looking man.Last but not least, Diana was sprawled on the floor on her back, two men pinning her to the ground while a third sat on her chest, almost choking her.Simon had no choice but to show his displeasure at the sight.He shook his head and huffed. “Dammit! Let’s be honest, this is th
Diana had understood by now that no matter what deed you do, if someone considers it to be wrong, then you have no choice but to pay the price for it.“Please, I beg you,” she fell to her knees, joined her hands and pleased. “Let my daughter go. Let her family free. Punish me however you want, I won’t say a word. Please, just spare my daughter. Spare my daughter for God’s sake!”To Diana’s huge disappointment, the leader only laughed, and so did his minions, as they cracked and doubled over, enjoying the poor predicament of the old woman.“You, assholes!” Ronin snapped, hating everything happening in front of him, wanting nothing more than to kill all those bastards. “Do you have any conscious or not? How could you enjoy this? Are you even humans?”“No. We are not. Satisfied now?” The leader asked, bored, rolling his eyes. But then those same eyes glinted and something wild passed his dangerous face. “We are monsters. We are trained to bring our enemies to their knees, no matter what
Diana returned to the living room and joined Carmen and Ronin.The dozen men continued to keep an eye on them, not giving them even a minute of break.Diana sat quietly, trying to figure out how to get out of their current predicament. She knew her daughter could see how badly she was fidgeting. She knew Ronin could see that she was hurting. But there was nothing she could do. It was after a very long time she was feeling so helpless, so useless, so damn stupid.“Mom, are you okay?” Carmen asked, his voice as sweet and gentle as ever. “What happened inside? Did it work?”Diana could understand the desperation in her daughter’s eyes. Carmen wanted nothing more than to run to her son and hold him tightly to her chest. But these men…these ruthless and pain-in-the-ass men were denying her the most basic and satisfying thing in the world. And it was all because of her mistakes. If only she hadn’t…“Mom?” Carmen spoke again, and Diana had no choice but to be honest.“No. It didn’t work,” sh
Willow sat on the side of the road and stared at the main gate of the Logan residence. It was still too far away for any of the men inside to spot them, but over the last few years, Willow had visited the place so many times, she remembered every single tree and bird along the way.Dawn had broken long ago, and now the sun glared down at them from the peak of the day. It was hot as hell outside, but no matter how many times Dan told her to get inside the car and take respite from the cruel heat, she couldn’t move. It was as if she wanted to punish herself for everything that led to this day. Perhaps if she hadn’t toyed with time, this day wouldn’t have arrived. But something had definitely alerted those men—the organization—and she couldn’t come up with any reason to blame other than herself. She was the one responsible for this. Then why wasn’t she the one to take the brunt of it too? How was any of this fair?“You do realize what you’re doing is not actually helpful, right?” Dan’s v