Charlie let out a deep breath as she led the woman upstairs. The world was going to be overwhelming and strange to her - that much could be anticipated. What she hadn’t really thought through was that she was going to have to be the one to explain everything to her. That was not going to end well. Sure, she’d been through several school systems, and she had a general understanding of how most things worked, but there was knowledge that came with time. Time longer than an hour in the future.

”Don’t worry about that,” Charlie said gently, cringing as the words came from her mouth. There would be so many things that would be out of her range, but Gwen was going to have to grasp them eventually. Why did she have to be so curious?

She sighed as she turned the key in her apartment door and opened it wide, letting the woman in the wide dress slip inside. ”Just come inside; take a seat. We’ll talk things out somewhere quiet.” Hopefully that would be a little nicer than on the street where there were a million things bombarding her senses.

The blonde rounded the corner and gathered things to make tea. She popped the kettle down and set tea bags in two mugs, standing against the countertop while she waited for the water to boil. ”Alright, so, Gwen… I’m sure that you’re completely overwhelmed.

“But I want you to just take a second and breathe. Don’t think about the little things or the differences in technology, because that’s just going to take time to get used to; no way around that. I want you to just ask big questions. Is there something broad that’s bothering you?” she asked. Already she was slipping back into her modern speech patterns without really noticing.

The kettle popped up and Charlie turned toward it. She pulled it off the holder and poured water over the two tea bags before setting it back down. With both filled, she walked over to the table and set a mug down in front of Gwendolyn.

Gwen didn't understand this world. She knew she didn't belong. She also knew she wasn't going to get back to her time - she could tell, just from intuition. Her only passage here was destroyed. There wasn't anyway for her to get back. That was something she had to accept. She had to quit asking questions, too. She felt like she was getting on Charlie's nerves, already.

She slipped into the apartment and took a seat, staring at the apartment. She looked it over - unsure of what any of the items in it. 

She nodded. Charlie was right - she needed to calm down. She took a deep breath and let it out. She did this a few times. She was a bit calmer - at least she wasn't stuck in those huge crowds anymore. She was safe, in an apartment, with someone who wanted to help her. That was nice, at least. She held her hands in her lap, nervously twiddling her fingers. 

Big questions? Something broad bothering her? She wasn't sure. She sighed, "My family is dead. I was suppose to get married in a couple days to help my father... But I am here now. I am glad I am out of the marriage, nevertheless, I will never see my family again. I have no money to live here. I have no skills for this time. At least, I imagine I do not." She sighed and put her hands into her face. She had no idea what to do. 

The broad questions that Charlie had imagined that she would ask included things like ‘how did I actually get here?’, or ‘what’s going to happen next?’. She hadn’t imagined that Gwen would start to spiral and talk about how her whole family was dead and her whole life had gone to sh**. Yeah, she was being observant, but what the hell was Charlie supposed to do with that?

Awkwardly, she stood up and gathered the tea bags from both mugs, holding her hand under them as she carried the two to the garbage. She sighed as she put her now-free hands on the counter and thought about what the woman had just said. In her position, Charlie likely would have done the same thing, but the immortal had years of experience behind her. Years of conditioning and hardening by the cruel thing called life. She’d learned not to get so worked up over things, but usually her view of life wasn’t one that everyone else took.

”That’s not really a question…” Charlie mumbled awkwardly, unsure of what to say to her. Yeah, she was in a sucky situation. She wasn’t going to lie and tell her that she wasn’t. What exactly was she supposed to say, though?


The blonde let out an exasperated noise as she walked back to the table and slid the tea closer to the woman. ”Drink this. It’s probably not what you’re used to, but it’s as close as I had.” She paused before continuing, ”And yeah, I know this sucks. As much as marriage sucks, you wanted to see if it could work and all that. I know. You’re here now, though, and you’re probably talking to the worst person for consolation, but you’re just going to have to deal with it now.

“You don’t have skills or money, but I work for an organization that can help with both of those things. We’ll worry about that later, though. For now, we’re going to think if there’s a way to get you home. Do you know what a mutant is?” That was the big question. Back then, knowledge was scarce and often held in low regard. People that could do extraordinary things were usually just told to keep it quiet or taken somewhere to be rehabilitated (as Charlie had discovered many times). She highly doubted that the woman would know anything.

She could tell Charlie didn't know what to do or say. Gwen wasn't really looking for an answer, it was just a moment of realization. She had lost everything. It did not mean that she wouldn't build a new life here, it just meant she was just in a really bad place. She grabbed the mug and began to take some sips of the tea. It was... Different. It wasn't bad, but it was different. She could get use to it. She took another sip.

She actually began to chuckle a little. It wasn't funny, but it was kind of funny - 'probably talking to the worst person.' She was the only person who had even bothered to talk to her. Everyone else just grabbed those gadgets and stared. She couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather be venting too - she just felt bad that she was putting Charlie in a situation that made her uncomfortable. 

Gwendolyn sighed and stared at the tea in the mug for a moment, "I am sorry," she whispered, "it is just you are the only one that did help me and I thank you so much for that. Everyone else just had those... Things in their hands. Some even got really bright." She pulled some of her hair behind her ear and looked back to Charlie. She needed to get her head straight. She couldn't keep moping about. She had to figure out what to do -if there was a way home, she had to find it. If not, she had to adjust to this new world. She had to learn how to live.

She nodded. Charlie worked for an organization that could help her with both of those things. Maybe getting a trade wouldn't be so hard, after all. Everyone seemed richer in this time, so maybe she was in for a great difference in her quality of life. Everyone did have remarkable teeth, surprisingly. Luckily for Gwen, she had good genes on her teeth. They weren't too sparkly and definitely not as white as someone in this time, but they weren't in nasty shape.

She shook her head, "No... I do not know what a 'mutant' is. Are you referring to the boy... That was on the train car? I do not know how I got here, but he was turning white when I ran into him. Then, I fainted. I don't know what happened but I am sure the boy died." 

Okay, so maybe Charlie had pushed the girl a little too much. After taking a few sips of the tea, she began to chuckle. She didn’t remember spiking the tea, but maybe she had? Just to check, she took a sip of her own. It tasted perfectly normal. Maybe it was just more caffeinated than what she was used to? Or maybe it was just an emotional reaction to everything that was happening. That was far more likely, she figured.

Yeah, so it was clear that empathy wasn’t Charlie’s strongest suit. Maybe she’d been too blunt before. There was no reason for Gwen to apologize to her. The blonde shook her head as she looked at her.

”Don’t, uh, apologize. That’s not what I was trying to get you to do,” she sighed. Man, she really did suck at things like that. She was at least helping the girl, though. She was right to point that out. The rest of the world would be too engrossed in their media to actually do anything other than take a video of the poor woman. She pulled out her own phone from her back pocket and set it down in front of the woman. That was one thing that she would need to know, but how was she supposed to explain it? She was from before the invention of the first telephone!

Charlie pushed the little square forward and entered the passcode. It was just a cheap thing, since she had a nasty habit of losing it in dangerous accidents, but it was still a good example, and it would still be far beyond anything that she had seen before. ”This is a telephone, sort of like the one that all those people were using. It hasn’t been invented in your time yet, but the most basic gist of it is that it lets you talk to people who are far away. It does other things, too, but we’ll save that for later.”

For that moment, what they needed to focus on was the subject of mutants. She couldn’t bring her to the Syndicate if she wasn’t sure that she was one, and she couldn’t know whether she was one unless she knew what they were. God, they had so much ground to cover.

Charlie took a sip of tea and then readjusted her seat before filling in some things. ”A mutant is sort of like an evolved human. We can do things that regular humans can’t, like sending someone through time or living for 260 years, like I have. There wouldn’t have been many in your time, but we’ve gotten more common over the years.” She paused to let that sink in. ”Can you… do anything that other people can’t?”

She took another sip of the tea. A long sip. She needed liquor, after all this. Were women allowed to drink in this time? A glass of champagne would be nice. Of course, a bottle of whiskey would be even better. Maybe Charlie would have some...? She seemed like a drinking kinda gal. And if women could wear jeans and skinny little dresses, she was sure they probably got drunk as much as the men did in her time. Maybe. Hell, why not ask? "Do you have any... Champagne? Liquor? Whiskey?" She wasn't sure the terminology they used for alcoholic beverages now-a-days. 

She nodded, almost apologizing again. She did feel bad for Charlie. She was trying to help and Gwen was nearing a mental break down any second. Of course, Gwen did have some pretty big reasons to be nearing that break down - she's literally over 100 years into the future, has no idea about anything, has never even been in New York City in her own time, let alone a brand new timeline in the future. 

She stared at the little gadget and perked a brow. A telephone? She picked it up in her hand and tapped on it. What type of... Glass was that? How did it know? She took a deep breath - she didn't need to know how, at least not yet. She just needed to figure out how to use it. She touched a couple of the icons, unsure of what they would do. She ended up pulling up a thing called 'browser' before she sat it back down. She arched a brow, "Kind of like a telegraph? Except, in a telephone...? With no wires?" It was confusing, but Gwen nodded. She had to just accept it for now. 

She nodded as Charlie explained what a mutant was. Evolved human. What did evolve mean, actually? She perked a brow, "You're 260 years old?" Her eyes widened, "I am under the assumption you were not thrown into the future, though." It was pretty clear Charlie had adapted very well to this time - even her voice and accent were modern.

She nodded, "Yes, we mostly thought people with any type of other worldly powers were possessed by Lucifer." She knew a couple of kids that were said to do weird, strange things with their minds. They were hanged for witchcraft. 

She paused and stared at Charlie for a moment, debating on her answer. She sighed, knowing she had to be honest. She could never be honest in her time. No one knew about her powers, except for her father. She took a sip of tea and she nodded, "Yes, I can. I presumed it was the sinner part of me that made it so, but I guess it is due to this 'evolved' human... Thing, you mentioned." 

She figured it would be best to demonstrate. She knew nobody here, so she couldn't actually locate anyone for her remote viewing but she could whisper into Charlie's ear. She decided to give a brief explanation before she demonstrated, though, "I can see what other people see through their eyes. I can also whisper into their minds, except they hear my voice instead of their own." She rubbed her hands against her arms, "I will show you." She paused, closed her eyes, and then viewed the room from Charlie's eyes. It was always a surreal experience when she did this. With a faint whisper into her mind, "How do you do, Charlotte?" 

Maybe Charlie had just been hanging out with the wrong upper class folks when she was in the 1840s. Usually, she spent her time in bars and with the lower class, but every once and awhile, she would crash a party just for kicks, to see what it was like. Everyone she had met there had been stuffy and boring, and she’d always regretted talking to them. There was no one like Gwen, sitting in her kitchen and asking for a glass of whisky. Charlie had to commend her on that one.

With a little twinkle in her eyes, she stood up and opened a cupboard. When you had 260 years to evaluate all your mistakes, you got used to relying on things to get you through. That, and she never really had to worry about the bad effects of any of it, since she often died pretty soon afterward anyway.

She grabbed a large bottle and two tumblers from the cupboard, shut it with the side of her hand, and walked back to the table. She set down the glasses and filled them each three quarters of the way full, passing one to Gwen. ”Cheers,” she said as she raised hers toward the woman. Now would be the moment to see whether or not she could actually hold that strong whisky that had just been poured for her. Charlie drank it with only a slight wince. She hated that she lost her tolerance each time she reset.

Just as she expected, Gwen didn’t know what a mutant was. She was, however, actually a mutant herself. She had just always assumed that she was possessed by the devil rather that given a special gene from birth that would allow her to do crazy things. You learned something new every day. Or, in Gwen’s case, a thousand new things.

”Trippy... er, strange,” Charlie commented as she sat back in her chair and tried to wrap her head around the fact that there was another person in her head. That was actually a cool power. One that would definitely be useful to the Syndicate, and there was no telling what else the woman could do. She wouldn’t have to feel bad at all about bringing her to the base. ”What else can you do with it?”

She took another sip of her whisky and set it back down on the table. ”And no, I wasn’t sent through time,” she answered a question that had been asked a while before. To see if Gwen could see her thoughts, she brought up some of the memories that she had about living in various times. ”My mutation lets me… come back to life, in a way. It’s sort of complicated.”

Gwen perked a brow. Charlie seemed pretty excited about the idea of Gwen asking for some liquor. It took a moment for her to realize that Charlie may have been surprised by her. She was a wealthy, merchants daughter - she was going to be a senator's son wife. She was high class, at least in her time. She didn't feel very high class in this time. Actually, she wasn't, she had no money. She was broke. No home, no family, no friends. It was just her... Well, and Charlie, but that's presuming Charlie didn't get sick of her.

She watched as Charlie filled the glass and sat it down in front of her. She took it, "Cheers," she replied with a modest smile. She then chugged the liquor filled glass. As in, she drank it as it poured down her throat. It was refreshing, disgusting, and she made a little scrunchy face for a moment but sighed as it settled into her stomach. It felt good. At least some things didn't change - whiskey was still whiskey. There was a God. Her drinking probably surprised Charlie, considering Charlie's probably impressions of her. She wasn't exactly a model woman in her time - she snuck out, drank with the boys, and done some other hoodlum things. It was a darn good thing she was getting married to someone who lived in PA instead of in Mass. 

In either case, women could drink now. It looked like Charlie might even own this place? She had to ask the next burning question, "Can we vote?" We, of course, being women. Hopefully Charlie recognized that. 

She shook her head, "That is it. I can whisper into your ear, even if you're as far away as Oregon territory... Well... Is it still a territory, actually? I can see that far as well - as if I was looking straight through your eyes. I had a friend who decided to head West. She was closing in on Oregon territory when I couldn't connect with her anymore." It might have been a state? Maybe it didn't even exist? Who knew. Oh well. Charlie would probably fill her in. She chuckled, "My father... He would get a hair or some item from his business partners and he would have me watch and listen to their deals. I got him some good leads into different business ventures - here and outside. It felt kinda like cheating, though." She shrugged, "Sometimes my whispering could help, but most of the time it gave them the creeps. People don't hear it as their own, just as my voice."

She nodded, "That's how you know my time, then. That makes sense. I mean, as much as anything makes sense to me, at least."

Despite Gwen’s appearance, accent, and attitude, she could handle her drink with moderate control. Charlie nodded with a slightly impressed look as she watched the other woman finish the liquid. Reaching over, she grabbed the bottle and topped up both of their glasses. She wasn’t trying to get the woman drunk, but she certainly seemed like she needed it. There had been a lot going on that day.

”We can vote, we can wear pants, we can own property,” Charlie replied with a nod. She made a point of swinging her legs up and resting them on the table, adorned in rather masculine boots. ”I mean, things are far from perfect, but they’re a hell of a lot better for women than they were. No marriage necessary.”

She couldn’t even begin to think of how much her life would have sucked if she’d had to keep getting married. That would have blown.

Gwendolyn could see through people’s eyes and whisper in their minds. Okay, so it wasn’t the most powerful thing in the world, but it was far from useless. In fact, it was an incredibly valuable skill for a mafia organization to have. If they could use her, then… things would get very good for them, and for Charlie by extension. The blonde raised her eyebrows as she thought through the uses for something like that. There were so many.

”Um, no. It’s a state now. America is all states now, no territories. The only territories left are in Canada,” she explained, trying not to look too unfocused during their conversation. ”And yeah, being a mutant will freak lots of people out. It’s just something that you’re going to have to accept, as much as it would be nice if that wasn’t the case.” Hopefully, if the Syndicate did what they wanted, that wouldn’t be the case anymore.

The woman leaned forward in her chair after a minute, giving Gwen a look as if she was about to tell her an exciting secret. It was because, well, she was. ”It doesn’t have to be that way, though, Gwen. The organization that I’m a part of works toward equality for mutants, and we offer help for all. Even mutants displaced by time.”

Gwen gave Charlie a mischievous smile. She loved some good liquor. It wasn't classy but no one needed to be classy all the time. And if she was right about this time, no one gave a rats *ss. That made her pretty excited about this time, actually. Maybe she could finally live like she was at least somewhat free? Maybe. If she was lucky, at least. 

She nodded. Wow. Women can vote, wear pants, and own property? Good Lord, how the times have changed. It made her excited - she was a strong believer in abolition, equality of the sexes, and all that progressive ideals. "Can you tell me more? How far have we come?" She asked, her interest peaked. She mentioned there was some still way to go, but compared to how it was in the past, it was amazing.

She toasted her shot into the air and grinned, "Cheers!" She chugged it and with a deep breath, finished it off. It felt good. Unfortunately, despite her drinking and her love for it, she didn't exactly have a high alcohol tolerance - she was already feeling buzzed. It was a relaxing buzz. Really, though, if she was calmer it would probably help Charlie out, too.

She nodded. That made sense - it probably had huge metropolises like New York City was. How fascinating. 

She frowned. Mutants weren't a good thing in the world, apparently. It made sense in her time - people believed them to be demons, which clearly wasn't the case. They were people with gifts and should be accepted as such, not demonized - literally. How bad was it, though? "How bad is it? Are they treated similar to the slaves of the 19th century?" She was not entirely sure what it meant exactly. 

She watched Charlie move forward - it didn't have to be that way? Well, hell, sign her up. She was all for equality, egalitarianism - it's what was supposed to make America great. She was cautious, though. Did they only help mutants? She presumed humans were mostly not discriminated against unless they fell into minority groups, "What about disadvantaged humans? Are they cared for? I like to see that all people are treated equally. If that is the goal and you are telling me I can be of assistance to this job, I would love to help. What type of assignment would I have?" Maybe getting a job wouldn't be so hard, actually? 

The second glass of whisky was downed by Gwen just as quickly as the first. That was not a great sign, considering the tolerance of most people in that time. Charlie raised an eyebrow and pointedly stood up to put the bottle away. She’d clearly had enough to settle her nerves, and she didn’t really want to have to deal with a drunk woman for the rest of the night. Not when they had important things to talk about.

”It’s probably better than you’re thinking,” Charlie explained to her. In the twenty-first century, she could walk around in whatever she wanted without being publicly shamed. Catcalled and demeaned, sure, but not publicly humiliated. That was good, at least. ”We’ve got almost as many rights as men, and there are groups making sure that things get even better. It’s far, far ahead of the time that you’re from.”

She shuddered to think of ever going back to that time. Sure, there were good things about it, and there were pluses to not being connected 24/7, but she liked that she could wear pants down the street and be her own person without intervention from people who should’ve had absolutely no say in such things.

As she sat back down from putting the bottle away, Charlie listened to Gwen’s concerns about the Syndicate. She wanted equality for everyone. Man, that was one forward thinking woman. If they had met in the time that Gwen was supposed to be from, she could see them having been friends.

Charlie sat back in the chair and considered the question for a second. ”Gwen, you have to think about it like this; there are thousands of organizations in the world. Some of them work toward things that are good for humans, some of them work for charity things, and some of them really don’t do much of anything. There’s only so much that one organization can do.

“The Syndicate, my organization, works to make sure that there’s equality for humans and mutants. If we were to do that for every single person, we would be stretched too thin. So, we let other groups handle things like that, and we do this.” Okay, so maybe she was stretching the truth a bit. It was less equality and a little more dominance, but she was sure that Gwen would see that that was the best route eventually. For now, this would be a good way to sell her.

”If you want, I can show you.”

Gwen almost frowned when Charlie put away the whiskey. It was probably for the best. She was feeling pretty good, anyways, and they were having some serious conversations. She put her hands together and placed them delicately in her lap. 

She nodded as she listened to Charlie explain how far women have come. Almost as many rights as men? That was amazing, "I saw people wearing jeans and really short skirts and and pants." She chuckled and cringed all at the same time, "In my time, that might honestly have gotten you hanged." Wow, though. How far the world has come. 

She listened to Charlie's proposal to join the Syndicate carefully. Why was it called 'Syndicate?' It sounded kinda... Intimidating, honestly. She did have a good point - organizations usually focused on one thing. She just didn't want it to be a 'destroy all humans' kind of organization. 

She was a firm believer in equality - the abolition movement, the rising of the women's rights movement, made her feel all the more comfortable with calling herself an egalitarian. "It sounds good..." She blushed a little, "I apologize if I insinuated the organization would not be an equal organization. You are correct that each organization focuses on different objectives. Living through the abolition movement has made me a little intense in my desire for liberty for all people." She did not want Charlie to take offense if she was speaking the truth. 

She nodded, "I would love to see, if you do not mind, of course." She gave Charlie a smile. It would be great to know what type of organization she'd be joining and of course, what her actual duties would entail. 

”Believe me, I know,” Charlie grinned in response to her comment about pants and short skirts. As a person who liked to shake things up, Charlie had been hanged a few times for wearing things deemed inappropriate. It had been one of her favourite reasons to die back then. Stick it to the man, or whatever.

Charlie had explained what the Syndicate was and what they did. Sure, she had left out a few details, but one couldn’t show all their cards on the first go at things. She had to get her warmed up to the ideas of it. Mutants deserved a place in the world as much as humans, and since she was going to be on the earth as a mutant for an undetermined amount of time, she figured that it was a good idea to get things moving in her favour. If a few other people were helped out in the process, then that was fine too.

”Glad you’re feeling a little better about things,” she nodded, ”it’s far less scary than it sounds.” When you were on the right side of things, anyway. She would make sure that Gwen was.

She wanted to see. Perfect. With any luck, that would mean that Charlie would be able to put her up somewhere there rather than her apartment and she could go about her life as usual. She seemed useful, but if having her there messed with her schedule, then she wouldn’t be able to stay forever.

She stood from her chair and gestured to the door. ”Perfect. Come with me, then,” Charlie said as she began walking forward. ”Hopefully, we’ll be able to set you up with somewhere to stay and some supplies from there. Oh…” she trailed off and gave Gwen a glance over. ”One second. Stay here, okay?”

She took off into her room and rummaged about for a minute, coming back with a nondescript outfit of a sweater, jeans, and Keds. ”I’m sorry, but you’re not going to be able to keep walking around like that. It’s going to draw some attention that you don’t really want. We look about the same size, so these should fit you. You can change in my room, if you’d like.”

Gwendolyn couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her comment. Of course she knew - she was older than Gwen was. How lucky was she that she had met probably one of the only other people in the world that was her age and even older in this time? The coincidence was astounding.

She was also pretty darn happy she got those couple of shots in her system. She wasn't by any means drunk or even tipsy, but she could feel her mood relax. Things would be okay, even if it didn't feel that way right now. She had met an amazing person who was helping her, she nearly already had a job in this new world, and maybe even a place to live. 

She nodded. She could adjust and every day would just be like... A normal day. 

She stood up and pushed her dress down and began to walk towards the door before she perked a brow as Charlie told her to wait and seemed to glance over her. What was wrong? It took a minute once she came back out of her room but it clicked in her mind. Yeah, she probably didn't need to keep wearing this dress. She really needed to change into a modern style if she was going to go going on adventures. She nodded and took the clothes from Charlie and went into her room. 

After about 10 minutes or so, Gwen came back out looking slightly uncomfortable but otherwise modern looking. "This is... Strange. I feel... Weird, in these trousers. I'll get use to them, of course." She was messing around with the sweater and fidgeting with the jeans on her hips. Where exactly where they suppose to go? On the hips, above the hips? She wasn't really sure.

Yeah, the huge dress just wasn’t going to fly on the streets of New York. As much as the city prided itself on being forward and accepting, it was still going to attract stares, especially after all the news that was probably out about the train car in the middle of the street. If they could avoid any unwanted attention, then Charlie would make sure that they did. It was in both of their best interests.

She waited in the kitchen while the woman changed in her room, wasting time by pouring herself another glass of whisky. She sipped it and paced slowly, putting things away as she went. If she hadn’t known that she was going to have company, then… okay, well she probably wouldn’t have done anything differently. Her place was just always going to be a mess. It was an unfortunate reality for anyone who care (anyone that wasn’t her).

Eventually, Gwen stepped out. She realized as she watched the woman fidget with the clothing, that she she probably could have given her a few more tips, or even a little help, but it was too late. Whatever. She seemed to have figured it out. Almost, anyway.

Charlie put her glass down and stepped behind her, hooking her thumbs through the belt loops on the jeans. She hoisted the pants just a little higher so they sat in the right place on Gwen’s hips. Again, it was something that needed to be learned by experience, and that wasn’t something a person could get in a few minutes of being in a time period. Charlie was just going to have to give her a crash course. ”That feel better?” she asked the woman over her shoulder.

With everything sorted, they could head over to the new Syndicate location on their side of the Rip. Charlie grabbed her leather jacket and tossed Gwen a tan pea coat before stepping into the hallway. ”Okay, so it’s not a long walk, but I know it’s going to seem pretty crazy. If anything scares you or gets to be too much, just, um…” Charlie shrugged and ran her hands through her hair, ”grab my hand or arm or whatever. Let me know.”

With that, she walked over to the staircase and led Gwen down. ”Come on, let’s get all of this sorted.”