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Justin shakily stood to his feet, rather hastily reassembling his clothing. After Brian's announcement... it was more than apparent their interlude was over. His eyes widened on Brian's almost savage expression. It was as if he had been transformed from pure bliss to immediate insanity... all without warning. It didn't make sense, and Brian's words least of all made sense. "I don't understand, Brian. You've traveled through time? I guess such a thing could be possible one day... but I don't think any such thing has been established in this day and time."

 

"That's very true. It hasn't been... however, where there's a will, there is undoubtedly a way." Brian's anxiety lessened slightly when he looked into Justin's beautiful blue eyes... ones that he knew would haunt him forever.

 

"Please explain. I really don't see you as a man of fanciful notions. That you speak of it so easily, tells me that you believe it exists." Justin's gaze was fervent and attentive to the man he knew he loved. "Tell me more, and make me believe it too."

 

Brian smiled, his hand reaching out to clasp and squeeze Justin's. A rare sigh fell from his lips. "You utterly enchant me, Justin Taylor. I have no understanding of it... I just know we are two souls that were destined to meet. Fate tore us apart the first time... but it won't a second one. I assure you of that."

 

"You said we met here before, and you had to return to me. Tell me how that happened."

 

"We really don't have much time. I'd really like to get back to the hotel quickly. This rearranging of your performances is very bad. I feel it." Brian pulled out the pocket watch, quickly examining the time, looking up in surprise when Justin hissed softly. "What is it, Justin?"

 

Justin's eyes were transfixed by the timepiece, his head shaking back and forth in confusion. "That watch... where did you get it?"

 

A reminiscent smile crossed Brian's lips. "You gave it to me."

 

"No. I never gave it to you." Justin's brows scrunched together as his confusion continued to mount. "My great-grandfather gave me that watch before he died. I never take it out of the box."

 

"One of my plays had just finished for the night when you approached me. A very old man appeared by my side that was desperate to speak with me." Brian felt a shiver pass over him from the memory. "You were so sad, a look in your eyes that spoke of a slight glimmer of hope where it had been totally extinguished. I was shocked, yet transfixed by your greeting."

 

Deciding to humor him, knowing that Brian believed this future man to have been him, he asked, "Okay... what did I say?"

 

"You placed the watch in the palm of my hand. Then you spoke very softly, yet with great certainty... and above all else - such yearning that I had never heard in so few words spoken. You said simply - ‘Come back to me'."

 

Justin looked at Brian incredulously, unable to believe such events could ever happen. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. He had been raised to believe in things that one could reach out and touch. This was not one of those things. "Brian, I know you believe what you are telling me... and I have no explanation for you, but these things just don't happen. Surely you have to realize that."

 

"I used to feel that way, Justin... but then this did happen. I became immediately obsessed with learning everything about you. I did hours of research and made difficult discoveries... all with one purpose - finding my way back to you." Brian's laid the watch on the table closest to them, his hands lifting to settle over Justin's shoulders, his fingers squeezing them gently. "Forget the fact that it sounds ludicrous... and I know that it does. I just need you to trust me and return to the hotel. Something is at work here to separate us again. We must stop it, Justin. Our future depends on it. I feel that we have within our grasp the chance to change history... but we have a short margin of time in which to work."

 

"I am having a really hard time processing this, Brian. I just don't understand it. If this story is true, and I'm not saying I believe it... what happened to separate us?" Justin sighed heavily, his answer in the blank stare he received back. He was hoping Brian had that answer. If only he had that - then he would be more ready to believe. And he really wanted to believe him. He wanted everything with this man to be real. "You don't know because it didn't happen. I don't think you're crazy. Really I don't. I just think something has confused you. Perhaps a dream? They are so real sometimes. I often find mine to be real."

 

Brian rolled his eyes, his hands immediately falling, despair quickly setting in. Justin didn't believe him. Without his trust, they didn't have a chance. Although much remained shrouded in mystery, Brian knew they needed to resolve this together. At this point, that looked less than likely to happen. "Justin, I know this is difficult for you to comprehend. Believe me when I tell you I had my own struggles with it... but everything I say is true."

 

Justin only half-heard Brian's words, his eyes pulling to the sparkling gold watch that lay on the table. He reached out to touch it, his eyes lifting to Brian to ask, "May I?"

 

"Of course." Brian smiled tightly, yet hoping something would spark in Justin to kindle his memories. "It's your watch."

 

"Right," he agreed. Justin picked up the beautiful timepiece, turning it over in his hand, but what happened when he opened it to display the time, was the last thing he had ever expected. His breath began to move in and out slowly, his eyes closing as a scene played out instantly in his mind. He was running across the extensive grass of the hotel, his voice shouting out Brian's name. Tears were rolling down his face as he ran to meet the man that was running to meet him in return. Each of them aware of their surroundings, so they embraced but didn't kiss. How he had wanted to kiss him. He knew that even in this vision. No. Not a vision. This was a memory. Justin knew this had happened... or was it something yet to happen?

 

Brian's brow pulled together in concern at Justin's transfixed expression. Was he focusing on the watch, or memories of his great-grandfather that had gifted it to him? "Justin?" he asked, his anxiety growing when he failed to answer, his eyes still in a faraway place.

 

Justin blinked, yet the vision was still there. It was as if he were living it - here and now. He and Brian all but ran to a room, a suite that he knew not to be the one he shared with his parents. It must be Brian's. Justin could see himself smiling at Brian almost flirtatiously, his fingers slowly moving to remove his clothing... piece by piece. He could hear Brian's growl of appreciation... and what was more, the love and hope in his eyes. The feeling that coursed through him was that of relief... a comfort brought from the knowledge that they had faced the most difficult of tests, and through their love, they had emerged victorious. Something phenomenal had happened... but what? Vaguely, he could feel Brian's hands shaking him gently, apparently trying to snap him free from the daze that now enveloped him... but he couldn't pull free. What was more - he knew he would dare not pull away until he learned all that he could.

 

He gasped as he watched a strange man beating Brian down with a blunt object, Brian's cry of pain slicing into his heart like the most precise razor. Justin didn't recognize the man at first... and then he did. It was the man from the house he had been touring with Brian earlier. The real estate agent. Why was he here... and what's more - why was he hurting Brian? Justin realized at once he wasn't supposed to see him; the man turned and faced him with rage and resignation in his eyes. He could clearly hear his voice, almost as if he were standing before him now. "You weren't supposed to see this, Justin. I would never expose you to such a harsh reality... all you were to see was your lover's broken and lifeless body." The man shrugged, his eyes looking on Justin in an insane lust and determination. "It's just as well really. Now you know we must always be together. Nothing can stand in our way now."

 

"Who are you?" Justin had sobbed. "I don't know you!"

 

Brian lay flinching on the ground, his eyes only seeing Justin. "H-he doesn't belong here, Justin. You cannot trust him. H-he doesn't belong here."

 

"Justin!" Brian's voice raised in alarm. "Snap out of it!"

 

Justin's body began to shake as the sobs from what he had just seen now overtook him in reality. He blinked and dropped the watch as if it had suddenly turned to fire. "B-Brian?" Justin asked. All at once, he began to ramble all that he had just felt and seen. "I- I believe you, Brian. Nothing else makes sense. What are we going to do?"

 

Brian gathered Justin tightly against his chest. "I know exactly what we're going to do, Sunshine. Somehow this watch is significant. It cannot return to the hotel with us. This man won't be expecting that. Once he is dealt with, then we can retrieve it and go from there. I need your absolute trust, Justin. There might be some unpleasant moments... but I swear I will get us through this."

 

Nodding emphatically, Justin whispered almost brokenly, "I'll do whatever you want, Brian. I- I love you. I would be lost without you. Please just don't let him do those terrible things to you. I really couldn't bear that."

 

"We've come this far, Justin... I won't let anything separate us again. Most certainly not a man that isn't even a part of our time." Brian pulled back and looked deeply into Justin's eyes, all of his love and intentions for the future shining brightly within.

 

"Fine. Let's do this, then. I want the rest of our lives to start today..."

 

"That's my boy," Brian answered, his lips swooping down to claim Justin's in a deep, penetrating kiss, one that he didn't want to relinquish... but knew, for now, he must. "We were meant to be together... and that is exactly what we will be."

 


 

Craig paced back and forth behind the theater, his eyes frantically searching over the horizon for his partner in crime. He ran a hand through his hair. How had he gotten involved in this mess? This could all explode in their faces, and he would truly lose everything. He had already grudgingly accepted the loss of his son. There was no way - star or not - he could accept the choices that Justin had apparently elected to make. He had known this day would eventually come. He had hoped to delay it for longer. What was keeping Ethan? This was his grand plan, and he knew it couldn't be carried out without him. Despite his animosity toward this man that had arrived, Craig was not a violent man. He firmly believed there had to be another way... but Ethan had convinced him they had no time. A part of him asked himself if he was wise to believe this strange man... but the other part reminded him that he had no other alternative.

 

"Good you're here..." Ethan whispered from directly behind him.

 

"I've been here for a good twenty minutes. What took you so long?" Craig demanded.

 

Ethan looked over his shoulder apprehensively. "I took the long way around. I had to make sure I wasn't followed."

 

"A little paranoid, aren't you? Kinney isn't on the hotel grounds... and he's the only one you're concerned with - right?" Craig continued to have more and more doubts about this assignation... but now he was stuck. There was no going back.

 

"Everything concerns me. If Kinney finds out the true secret behind his travel back into time, it's all over. He has to be gone before he can make the connection."

 

Craig looked at Ethan dubiously, none of this far-fetched story making any sense to him. "You say you have an article that when combined with the one he has, locks them in time together. No more transferences can be breached. My question is simple - why didn't you simply destroy his piece in the future so he couldn't come back?"

 

"Because I needed him to come back, you fucking imbecile!! As you know - I don't belong here. I couldn't make the jump through time until Kinney did the same. I had to come back to change things so Justin didn't waste away his entire adult life when he loses Brian."

 

"What is this object?" Craig demanded, becoming more and more perplexed each moment.

 

Ethan reached into his pocket, extracting a pocket watch fashioned of the finest gold, flipping it open to reveal it fully to a man that instantly recognized it. "Look familiar? Very few were ever made... but only two of this select mold were produced. Those two are very special."

 

"Let me guess - the other one is the one that Kinney possesses?" Craig replied drolly. "I recognize the watch. It looks very similar to my grandfather's watch. He gave it to Justin before he died."

 

"The one Kinney has is the one Justin's great-grandfather gave to him. If the two watches are destroyed, the option of time travel will cease to exist... and the ones that possess the watches have no way to return. Trust me, I paid dearly to an expert on this matter. One that I can trust."

 

"What happens if one watch is destroyed - say the one that you hold?" Craig asked, not understanding why this couldn't be resolved more reasonably.

 

Ethan sighed, the reality of such an occurrence, not something he wanted to happen again. "Kinney will be transported back to the future, rendered incapable of returning."

 

Craig snatched the watch from Ethan's hand. "I will resolve this now, then." He closed his fist around the watch, preparing to hurl it violently against the back of the hotel theater.

 

"Stop! You can't do that! Don't you think if it could be resolved that way, I wouldn't have already done it?" Ethan's eyes bulged in rage, his hand closed tightly over Craig's, forcing his hand to open and let the pocket watch fall back into his hands. "That was what happened the first time. It can't happen again. Justin retreated into himself and never came out into the public again. He grieved his entire life for this lost love. If he loses him like that again, not knowing what happened to his lover - he will never recover. History will stay the same."

 

"So you think seeing his lover die before his eyes will make Justin adapt in time? Taking a big risk, aren't you?" Craig openly sneered at the man that was now showing desperation.

 

"It is the only hope you have of Justin having a future career... and I know that is what you want more than anything..." Ethan replied mockingly. "Now, go wait in front of the theater, and alert me when Kinney arrives with Justin. I know they will show up tonight. Kinney will have figured out by now that events are changing. When he arrives to find out how and why - that is when they will be separated forever."

 

Craig took in a deep breath. "I am not going to stop you for I know this is what's best for Justin's future, as well as my own, but I won't help you in committing murder. You are on your own in that."

 

"Don't worry about that. I know you are too cowardly to do what must be done." Ethan looked at Craig in obvious disgust. He couldn't wait to have Justin's odious father out of the picture. He was useful for now... but he wouldn't be for long.

 

Once Kinney was dead, he would destroy both watches. When that was done, he and Justin would be together forever...

 

TBC

 

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