THE MOMENT
Professor Raleigh was smart enough to know that he couldn't know everything. After decades of teaching and researching, he'd learned there was always something he would never be able to anticipate. Novelty was the nature of the universe and the only thing to do was guess about everything. Despite his intelligence, he was a grieving man and made the willing choice to risk it all. And suddenly, it felt like one moment to the next, she was there again.
"Nina...," He was at her side before he heard the cheers and champagne corks. He gently embraced the brunette teen. The last time he saw her alive she was weak and frail, and he had no idea how much she recovered. Was she completely free of the disease? "... you're back, you're alive...," he enjoyed the warmth of holding her for a moment and then realized she wasn't embracing him. "... Nina?" he pulled back to meet her eyes. The scientists had enough courtesy for him to move the celebration out of the room. There would be plenty of time for questions once father and daughter caught up.
"You shouldn't have done that," Nina said with a flat voice. There was no light in her eyes, they were unfocused and looking past him.
"I must apologize," a new voice spoke up and the Professor spun around to see two women and a black cat standing in his lab. The taller, leaner woman wore a crisp white suit, and the shorter one wore a matching one in black. Her hands were glowing with blue light and he caught sight of a faint heat shimmer as the tall woman continued. "My name is Dana Sharp, and unfortunately, you picked the absolute worst time for your experiment," she said.
"What do you want?" Professor Raleigh kept his spot between the newcomers and Nina.
"To apologize," Ms. Sharp nodded. "The multiverse is in something of a delicate state at the moment," she said. "Were it any other time, your experiment might have succeeded without interference from my end."
"It did work!" Professor Raleigh replied and he reached behind for his daughter's hand.
"You shouldn't have done that," she repeated.
"We were able to interrupt the procedure and sent a placeholder to find you," Ms. Sharp replied.
"Place..," he turned and looked at Nina again. It looked like her, but there was still no life in her eyes.
"You shouldn't have done that," she repeated.
"Why??" He forced himself to let go of her hand. "Who gave you the right?"
"I made the right for myself," Ms. Sharp answered. "The 'Why' is answered by the current fragility of the multiverse. To make it simple to understand, I broke things a little bit. I tried to put everything back the way it was; but, it's not perfect. Your attempts at resurrecting your daughter would have shined quite a spotlight on those cracks I've left behind, and I'm not quite ready for that to be revealed." None of it made sense. But, it didn't have to right at that moment. He was exhausted and defeated.
"Fine," he sighed. "Apology accepted or whatever, you can leave me alone now...," he looked back at Nina. Nina's shell? Could he still find anything of her in there?
"You shouldn't have done that," she said.
"Oh, no, I was only explaining why I'm here. I haven't apologized yet," Ms. Sharp answered.
"The thing about the universe is, it's always in motion. You've begun the process to bring back your daughter, and I interrupted it. But, an interruption is only temporary. It would require constant juggling to keep her from returning and exposing my mistakes. And due to the very nature of those mistakes, I simply don't have the manpower for that endeavor," she sighed.
"What are you saying?" The Professor asked. Had he misjudged something? "You're going to let her come back?"
"I apologize that I cannot," Ms. Sharp sighed and shook her head. "And, I formally apologize for eradicating your Earth. It's the only way to ensure my secrets until I'm ready."
"Wait, what do you mean eradicate?" Professor Raleigh asked. At the same moment he posed the question, the shorter woman's hands flared brighter and he felt a wave of heat rush past him.
"Melody's going to destroy your Earth and Janet is going to wipe out the timeline," Ms. Sharp gestured at the lab around them. "None of this will have ever existed... I'm truly sorry," she added as a black hole appeared behind her then moved forward to envelop her.
"Bad luck," the woman in black shook her head and pointed her palms toward the ground to release brilliant blue plasma beams.
"Nina!" the Professor squeezed her as the room got hotter and hotter with chaos erupting all around them.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said. It wasn't her, and right now that was okay. He was glad she wasn't dying like this, her passing was much more peaceful. And, at the very least, his final moments were all he could have hoped for. An eternity with his arms wrapped around her for one more time. It was all he really wanted.
"I'd do it again."