Nessa kept finding her reflection on the way home. It was so distracting seeing her blue eyes as though someone photoshopped her in real life. It was a reminder of how weird things were for her right now.

It was nice of Shay to escort Vanessa to someone she could trust. They seemed nice, but ultimately decided it was not their place, as an unfamiliar face, to talk Vanessa through what must have happened to her. She did make a few things clear, at least.

It was Twenty-Twenty.

She had been twenty-seven when Shay met her two hours earlier, (an event which Vanessa had no memory of.)

This was apparently a thing that was happening to people around New York.

That was a lot to unpack when Vanessa was alone out of her own timeline (in her eyes) and surrounded by strangers. It was too many people and the last thing she needed was to make a scene. That sounded like a great way to get the attention of a lot of people and that many eyes on her would just stress her out more.

Thankfully, there was someone to go to. Booker was still in her phone, so she clearly had not burned her bridge in eight years with her last relative. She texted him, asking for his address. When he asked why on earth she’d need to ask, she gave him the briefest answer of, “Something happened, I can explain when I get there.”

And thus, she finally made it to a nice apartment in Midtown. It was good to see Booker was living comfortably. Along the way to the apartment, she considered looking through the internet for traces of herself, but decided to wait. If there was something she needed to be warned about, he could tell her. Well, she could see it in his eyes.

After knocking, she waited for the door to open. Booker would find her, more of a beanpole than she was the last time he saw her, probably, and obviously young and full of uncertainty. A proto-typical nineteen-year-old. ”Hey Book. Surprise?”

It had been a good day. As much as he loved being at the library, he equally loved being at home and enjoy days off whenever he could get that. Obviously he didn’t need a lot. He loved his work, the space, and the books, but even he knew the importance of self-care and taking a few moments for yourself. And that was what he was planning on doing today. He had a book he wanted to start, a new video game to play, and a new recipe for dinner that he wanted to try out on Javi when he got off work at his shop. This was a day for relaxation.

Or so he thought.

He knew that his sister was back in New York. She had flown in with her girlfriend, Gina, and the they had dinner the first night together. It was nice to see her, even nicer that she left to her new, separate home, with Gina. Things were going so well for the both of them! However Booker felt the weight in his stomach drop when he got a text from her.

It was innocent enough. She asked where he was. He told her, figuring that she wanted to hang for a little bit, which was fine with him. He could move his plans around for the day for her. But he was bewildered when she inquired what was his address. She could have been screwing with him so he shot some sass back at her, but was met with the same question. He was worried, obviously, and text her address. But when asked what had happened, all he got back was an “I’ll explain when I see you.”

He had no idea what that could mean. Shaking his head, the 31 year-old librarian could only pace his apartment, curious as to what was happening to his sister, milling about as he picked up the room. A few stray clothes, an empty glass or two, Booker had always been the clean-freak of the duo so did didn’t take him long to make his presentable. It wasn’t long before he heard a knock on his door.

Grabbing a clean, d20 “Critical Success” tank top from his dresser, he slipped it on over his bare, muscular chest and approached the door. Upon opening it, the towering librarian in a tank and black sweatpants appeared, his expression already a mask of concern. When he looked at “Nessa” at first he thought maybe it wasn’t her. Just a stranger with a vague familiarity. But in the instant he took to look at her more closely, he knew it was his sister.

It was Nessa. But not the Nessa he knew now. A Nessa that appeared at least half a decade younger. After living with his sister as long as he had, he knew her well. Knew her general shape and appearance. This wasn’t a sister that was as familiar to him anymore considering how hard she worked out to be the woman she wanted to be. Needless to say, it was...confusing.

He stared at her for several long seconds after she greeted him. In response all he could mutter was something about the California sun being more rejuvenating than he thought. But all that stumbled out from his lips was, ”You’re...damn right ’Surprise’,” he said breathlessly. ”Oh...my god...what happened?” Instinctively he opened the door, his protective nature wanting to pull her in and away from the outside world. What was going on?!

What happened indeed? The last thing she remembered, she was living in a small apartment with a few roommates and spending most of her time locked in her room. She was still getting used to being around people and not thinking or worrying they would get her gender wrong, not yet adjusting to how much more passing she had gotten over the last two years.

The last place she expected to wake up was on the floor of some convention bathroom. Conventions were more her brother's thing, but he wasn't there. He was quietly enjoying a day at his apartment but he was not the same guy in his early twenties who let her crash on his couch when she needed it.

He was stunned, which was fair, because he was not alone. "Woah, you're so much older," she muttered before realizing how that sounded. "And by that I mean way older than I remembered. But, like, good for your age if I did the math right?"

The door opened and she accepted the offer to step inside. He might have been years older, but this was still Booker. Even the Adapted field that kept her powers in check felt familiar. "I wish I knew, Book! Last I checked, it was twenty-twelve. From what I'm told, I went into a bathroom, which was where I woke up and that's the first thing I remember."

Noticing a comfortable looking couch, Vanessa threw herself onto the furniture dramatically. "So it's true I guess? It's eight years in the future and I was... what? I don't even know who I was. I guess I'm glad I made it this long." She had some dark moments after getting kicked out, so maybe she should see this as a victory. Maybe things got better?

This was honestly the last thing that Booker had expected to see today. When he got the text from his sister, he had thought at its most dire that something has happened between her and Gina. Shame since the gargoyle mutant was a sweetheart. But now Booker was almost wishing that were the case. This wasn’t something simple like a break-up or catching someone cheating, thus was much more world breaking. His sister was young again. Seemingly she had fallen victim to the same affliction that many people were cursed without throughout the city. Totally not cool. 


He had to take this one step at a time. He wasn’t going to leave her out in the cold, never, so instinctively he stepped aside to allow her passage into his home, formerly their home, and closed the door after her. She explained that the last time she had checked it was 2013 and that she had been brought here. At least she found people who were understanding and not looking to take advantage of her. 


Shaking his head, he followed Nessa into the room, taking a seat on a nearby chair after she dramatically threw herself onto the couch. She was taking the time jump rather well. For a lot of people, their lives fell apart, some losing so much time that they could scarcely remember their loved ones anymore. Some lost whole families in this process. 


”Yeah, eight years,” he sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to organize his thoughts and understand what he could even say. 


Where would he even begin? She had a successful career, a loving girlfriend, she had been through some messy relationships but maybe it was better she didn’t know that part. Other than the fact that their parents still tried to get ahold of her, going so far as to higher private investigators, she lived a pretty nice life. With a sigh he stood up and made his way to the kitchen. 


”Okay, so, there’s a lot…” he said. He moved around the kitchen, looking for foodstuffs and drink. Eventually he settled on a bottle of soda and a place of chips and salsa that he and Javi had been steadily snacking on since last night. Even in a crisis, he always had to be a good host. ”You said you woke up in a bathroom? Where were you?” he asked cautiously. He moved back into the living room, setting the plate and drink down in front of her. ”Most importantly, were you by yourself? Was anyone named “Gina” with you?”

Eight years. That was what this came down to; eight lost years. Who even was she during that time? This hardly felt like a loss yet, because she had no clue what she was missing. If anything, she wondered how Booker was going to handle this, because she was not the sister he had grown to know, she was the one he remembered. She hoped that was not too disappointing.

As expected, there was plenty to discuss and neither of them knew where to start. Booker finally made the first move by asking about her situation when she woke up. ”It was a convention hall. When I came too, no one else was in the bathroom until Shay came in to find me. They were a nice cosplayer who I was apparently hanging out with before I went to the bathroom.” Back when she was still twenty-seven.

Specifically, Booker asked her about a name. ”Gina… I think I saw the name in my phone when I was looking for you. It had a heart next to it, so… a girlfriend, I guess?” If so, it was nice to know she moved back into the dating world after getting over some of her hangups. ”She wasn’t there with me, from what Shay said. So I guess I was on my own at a convention? I dunno, that doesn’t sound like me.”

Sitting across from his sister, Booker was a little at a loss for what to say. He was talking to his sister from eight years ago! The sister he knew and spoke to only a few days ago was gone, replaced by this old version. And it wasn’t a case of being cloned or shot put through time, this was his actual, living, breathing sister. And now with so much time taking away from her, he had to find some place to begin talking to her. Some ground that he could start building the foundation of her life and memories again. 


The most recent and powerful thing he could think of was her current girlfriend. They had moved out to California together before deciding to come back. The fact that Gina wasn’t with Nessa wasn’t all that alarming. Conventions could be a hard life to stomach if you weren’t prepared for it. Damn it would have made things a smidge easier if she had been there. 


The only thing he could be thankful for was that whoever this “Shay” was had helped her. If they had any any way taken advantage of his sister, he would have tore this city apart. At least she was safe and with him as opposed to wandering around a time she didn’t recognize. 


”Afraid I don’t know ‘Shay’,” he said. ”Glad that they were able to get you someplace safe, though.”


But here came the big question. Gina. Gina hadn’t had been at the convention and Nessa knew the name was in her phone. But the look in her eyes, the blankness, it was as if she were just reading a random name in the phonebook. Damn. 


With a sigh he stood up and moved to sit on the couch next to his sister. Pulling out his phone, he flipped through a few random photos in his gallery, mainly of the library, scenery, Javier, in search of a particular photograph. As he did so, he explained. 


”Jesus, I don’t know where to start…” he said. ”...Um...okay. Nessa...you are kind of a gaming nerd celeb. Member of the POW Block Party. That’s why you were at the convention. And...well...you actually just came back from a couple years out in California...with your girlfriend….Gina…” He turned his phone to her, showing her a picture that Nessa had sent him from California. It was her and Gina, the gray skinned, gargoyle girl. ”Recently, like, very recently, you came back. And what you’re going through has happened to a lot of other people. No one knows what’s causing it or why, but you know, New York is weird, especially in the last few years. Just…” he looked at her a bit sadly. ”I...honestly didn’t think it would ever hit so close to home.”

Nessa felt like she was about to be sat down and explained the facts of life. Really, she was, but instead of some tough love talk about the truths of the world, her brother was here to give her details of her own life. Right now, she had given him literally all of her memories in twenty-twenty and now it was his turn.

Anxiously, Nessa picked up a chip an dipped it in salsa. This was why she liked coming to her brother as a support structure; he was really good at it. The couch was comfortable, food was offered quickly, and there was still love in his concern. This was where she could brace for the truth.

She watched him in disbelief as he explained. She was part of The POW Block Party?! That was huge. That was like… a dream job. How had that even happened? They were not a huge company during her time, but they were always her favorite.

And then there was Gina. Her brother showed her a picture and she spoke immediately under her breath. ”Woah, she’s cute. Woah, I got hot.” Sure, that was a little vain, but damned if the hormones did not continue to work wonders.

Evidently, this was not a one-off occurrence that happened to her. People were dealing with this around New York. The city was always strange, and apparently that never stopped over eight years. This was one of the crazier epidemics she had heard of, and it clearly hurt Booker to realize she was a victim.

Before anything else, she brushed some tortilla chip dust from her hands and reached out to hug her brother. ”I’m… I’m sorry that older me isn’t here,” she apologized awkwardly, before finding some sarcasm to get her through these trying times. ”If it makes you feel better, it sounds like I got really awesome over the years. Maybe this is nature letting you be the more awesome sibling for a little while until I get my feet back under me?” She may have been the one to “lose” eight years, but she did not remember them. Booker did, as would the people in her life

People like Gina. Nessa let go of the hug and looked back at the photo. ”So… you said I moved with this girl?” That was not the kind of thing you did with a girl on the third date, lesbian stereotypes aside.

He arched his brow. Of course the two first comments she would make regarded the attractiveness of both herself and Gina. Whatever. He didnt comment on it. Gina was cute but he would never say his sister his "hot". The idea alone made him shiver. But he could appreciate how much hard work she put in to attaining the body she always wanted. That he would compliment her on. 


But that reminded him of the cruelest point in all of this. His sister was different. She was still his sister but she wasn't the sister he knew anymore. She was an older edition, one that he could remember in perfect clarity but also one that firmly lived in the past these last eight years. Now he was going to have to get used to this for...who knows how long! Forever? How was that fair to her? To everything she built? It angered him to know that was taken away from her.


He sighed. His upset demeanor was not lost upon his sister. After shaking off tortilla chip dust, her arms opened and she pulled him in for a hug. Honestly he was a little shocked. Not because she was giving him a hug, but because she was comforting him. She was the one who lost years of her life! Shouldn't this be reversed?


Still, he couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Gratefully he hugged her close, pulling her in tight and firm. He was a good hugger, often only stopping when people began to flail and breathless pat his back in a desperate plea for air. So he hugged his sister. He always hugged his sister, but it didn't escape his attention that this was different. Again, he was hugging his past sister...and his current one. This would take some getting used to. 


A grin cracked his lips as she joked about her situation and trying to see the brighter side of it. God, he couldn't help his chuckle, shaking his head and burying his face in her hair. If she wouldn't have a big hang up about this, then he would do his best to stop comparing her to the Nessa he knew. That wouldn't be fair to her. No matter what, he was her brother and he would help her.


"Trust me…" he sighed as he unfurled his arms from around her, leaning back in his seat. "...you'll need more than just your feet under you to reach my level of awesome."


Gina. As much as he didn't want keep on talking about such a painful subject, it couldn't be avoided. Nessa inquired, in a way, assuming that her relationship with her was more than just a fling. He sighed and nodded his head.


"Yeah, you did. She's awesome. Was there for you during a...pretty rough time." It was probably best he didn't delve into the soap opera her life had descended into as he explained. "Then when she moved back to California to help her mother, it didn't take you long to follow after her. Honestly, never seen you happier."

Booker was one of the most empathetic people Nessa knew. She would argue that he got most of it when he was born, leaving her the sarcasm and snark he left behind. It was nice to know time did not make her brother cold or jaded. That would have been the true tragedy of being de-aged and thrust into her own future.

There was still plenty of sarcasm in her kinder brother, with the teasing bravado she knew. ”It’s good to see some things never change, jerkface.”

As expected, Gina was not just some passing fancy in Nessa’s future. Well, her present. She was there when Nessa needed her, and Nessa did the same. It sounded like the perfect relationship. Something strong and established.

Nessa’s smile faltered. ”She sounds amazing. Like she really loved me. The older me. It… sounds like the kind of thing I’m not ready to live up to,” she finally admitted. The young woman sighed, nibbling on a chip in thought. ”I’ve got so much I need to get a handle on, even ignoring this age thing. I feel like this amazing woman fell in love with a finished product who loved her back.” And maybe she had it in her to fall in love with Gina again, but was it fair to try falling for someone who already loved a different you once before?

He didn’t know why he was worried. No matter what, no matter what happened to her, he loved his sister. Any doubt about him needing to be used to her or being unable to cope wafted away the second that he gave her that full hug and laughed at her poor joke. It was going to be difficult to deal with eight years of lost memories, but at the end of the day, this was his sister and he was going to love her no matter what. It just was terrible that she was going to have to go through something like this. But at least she wasn’t going to have to do it alone.

With an encouraging smile he tried to tell her a bit more about Gina but even as he explained the gargoyle mutant to his sister, it was as if he were talking about a complete stranger. Nessa merely looked at him, her eyes flashing between the phone and his face. He could see that there was no recognition there. It was hard to watch but he wouldn’t be doing his brotherly duty if he had neglected to do this.

At the end, he could hear the truth behind his sister’s words. As much as they had built a life together, she wasn’t the same person that fell in love with Gina. It was true, Nessa was always his sister but the confidence that she exuded after just eight years of experiences was certainly missing now. It was something she was going to have to learn all over again.

He sighed, watching her, offering her a lopsided smile. Reaching over he quickly ruffled her hair affectionately. ”Well, I can say this, you’re already more mature than how I remembered eight years ago,” he grinned. ”And as you know, I don’t forget things.” He nodded. With a sigh he leaned back in the sofa again. ”You know, you can stay here with me, until you get on your feet like you said. I’m sure three of us can share this space.” He paused. ”Three. Shit. That’s right. You don’t remember Javier, do you?”

It stood to reason that, if Nessa and Gina were in love enough to follow each other from coast to coast, they lived together now. That was romantic, but the idea of living with her now sounded like living with someone else’s girlfriend. There was just… there was no way she would feel comfortable living there, watching those gorgeous eyes as they looked at her and wished she was someone else.

Nessa would have to call Gina next, which she would not look forward to at all. She would explain what happened and offer for Gina to come to Booker’s apartment to talk about how this would go. She wondered how many things she would have to take from their shared space; would she feel the sense of loss as she walked away?

That was a worry for later. For now, she had to think about where she was going to live. She did have an option with Booker, which sounded like a safe place to stay while she figured things out. It would have been, if not for the news of another roommate.

Nessa’s eyes went wide with surprise. ”Javier? You have a boyfriend? Or wait, husband?” It had been eight years after all. ”Then I’m definitely not intruding. I feel like if we lived together like that, we’d end up walking in on each other all the time. Probably best to avoid that.”

Then again, did she have other options? ”Hm, the question I guess is if there’s anywhere an amnesiac nineteen-year-old can seek refuge that her brother won’t ruin with PDA. Maybe I should talk to the POW Block Party?” She did technically work with them, right?

They needed a plan. He was usually good at that, plans. Whether a party, cleaning up a mess, maybe just setting up his day, Booker was pretty good about formulating a list of ideas and hoping from there. Now that they covered the first of the heavy stuff, they had to think of practicalities. Apparently living with Gina was going to be out of the question (too awkward). So what did that leave her?

His home. It wouldn't be the first time. He could still remember when he offered her the apartment. It was going to be a lifestyle change but he marveled at how easy it was to get used to. Despite their occasional disagreements, he could admit that he grew accustomed to having her around..

Not that he was quick to let her back in. When she mentioned how she wanted to be respectful and avoid any accidentally walk-ins, he froze up. God. Maybe he should look into whatever was deaging people and sign up? Wouldn't it be great to forget to many, many embarrassing moments?

No. Bad idea.

He smirked. "No husband. We are still feeling things out but they've been going well. Hence why the moving in."

It wouldn't be that big of a change. Nessa hadn't been gone that long. But for how much he wanted to keep an eye on her, in the end it was her decision. So he nodded and wrecked his brain to consider an alternative. As much as he would have liked to have put her up in her own apartment himself, he didn't make THAT much money.

She mused about moving in with coworkers when an idea struck. She needed to be with like minded people. Why not the Mansion?

He shrugged. "You can always move in to the Mansion. You know the one that takes in all the mutant kids?" He said it so nonchalantly that it didn't occur to him that she only recently came out as a mutant. He pressed on. "They're taking in a bunch of mutants who are going through this with free room and board. Probably be the safest place for you, especially if your powers have changed any. They'll help you cope."

If Nessa was going to be left in her own future, it was comforting to have pillars of support. She barely had stability in twenty-twelve, so could she do much worse in twenty-twenty? Shay offered to help Nessa if she needed them, and their eyes certainly made them sound sincere. Maybe they needed a roommate?

Ever the problem solver, Booker had a suggestion that caught her off guard. The Mansion? She had looked up Xavier’s when her powers manifested, but she wanted to keep that as a last resort since it would out her biggest secret.

A secret that was out in twenty-twenty, evidently! ”So… wow. I… guess you know.” Nessa suddenly wished her brother’s aura did not lock away her powers. He knew about her, and she could not see why, leaving her vulnerable.

”So that’s new. Um, how did you find out? Who else knows? Gina?” A more chilling thought hit her and she cautiously asked, ”Mom and dad? Did they find out, too? Wait--what about mom and dad. Are things still…?” Still what? Bad? Silent? Eight years passed, so was it impossible for her parents to evolve as people in that time?

Booker was more than willing to help Nessa when she needed it. Even though he had just gotten her out the door, if she needed a place to live, then he was going to go ahead and offer his home to her. It was as simple as that. But it seemed that she wasn’t fully willing to take him up on his offer just yet. She didn’t want to impose on his life (that was a first) and considered what other options were available to her. While he was sure that someone at her job might take her in, deep down he felt like she was going to need more help than that.

She needed people who dealt with this level of weird all the time. People who were equipped to handle this kind of thing. Who barely winced when something strange happened. She needed…

That was it. It may be a little weird given that she had a failed relationship with one of them, but why wouldn’t they take her in? They helped people in crisis. Surely they could help Nessa. He actually warmed to the idea but after he told his sister, he looked into her face and saw -- surprise.

At first he was confused as to why she seemed so shocked but eventually she mumbled about her being so unprepared to know that he knew she was a mutant. Crap. That’s right. He knew that. Nessa had only recently told him that she was a mutant and that was something that had certainly caught him off guard. She had known for so long but kept it as a secret. Secrets were not something they really had. But he got passed it. She had her reasons and he could respect that.

Now, it seems, she was back to that uncomfortable space of secrecy. And he had just outed her. He winced, but offered her a kind smile.

”Yeah,” he said. ”You told me a couple years ago. It was a surprise but I was glad you felt like you could finally trust me with that secret.” It was after he said that he reached out, offering Nessa a comforting hand on her shoulder. ”And...then you told the world on ViewTube. So...guess that isn’t so much a secret anymore, eh?”[/b]

He tried to play it off as not being a big deal but he knew that a lot of that was going to be hard to process. Especially when it came to their parents which is what she jumped to next. She was cautious, questioning how much their parents knew. He offered her a consoling smile.

”They don’t know. As far as I know,” he said with a shrug. ”You told me they sent some correspondence but don’t think you replied. They were only writing to you because some P.I. they found us and you said something about them wanting to come see them to ‘talk’. You said you replied but I didn’t read it.”

It was a fact that Nessa blamed a lot on her parents. That was what happened when you decided to be homophobic and transphobic toward your own children. Their disapproval made Nessa unwilling to share her telepathy with people. Being a mutant came with stigmas, but who wanted to have a telepath around? It just seemed easier, with all her other secrets, to just hang onto that one, too.

That was nineteen-year-old Nessa’s opinion, but apparently she outgrew it in a big way. Booker knew, Gina knew, and the whole internet knew. Being so outed came with a flare-up of anxiety. Everyone knew who she was. Did that make things better for her? Worse?

Booker was still on her side. She always knew deep down he would be, but that did not ease her worries enough to pull the trigger. Quietly, she wondered what she wrote in a letter to her parents. It could have just been, “Fuck off,” in her nicest penmanship, but if she outed herself publicly, maybe she finally got her last big secret off her chest.

”A P.I.” she repeated in disbelief. ”What an incredibly our parents move. Couldn’t just show up, though unless I’ve become a more mature person, I probably would have slammed the door in their faces and told them to go screw.” It was hard to be civil with people who did not respect who you were.

So she was gay, a mutant, and trans, and likely everything was public now. Why keep her trans identity quiet if she was sharing her telepathy with the world anyway? ”I guess Xavier’s is on the table, then. How have people reacted? To me being a trans telepath? I can’t imagine it’s an easy sell, so I want to know if the Mansion should be warned they’re bringing in a problem child.”