"So, you're Jeremy Bratt," Jo said. She sat across from Jeremy in the COSI cafeteria.
"That I am," Jeremy said, nodding slowly.
"She had a lot to say about you," Jo said. Brynne Andrews had filled nearly half the space in one of her last journals with writing about this man. She'd described him as handsome, but she hadn't done him justice. The man was gorgeous.
Gorgeous and hurting. Jo knew about his entire ordeal. Brynne had written about it. Brynne's experience had mirrored Jeremy's almost exactly. She'd known what he felt because she'd felt it, too. They'd fallen in love with each other, only to be separated and forced to live out the remainder of their lives in worlds that were not their own.
"She was in love with you," Jo resumed. She watched Jeremy's face for reaction.
After a short silence, he said, "I know."
"If things hadn't ended up like they did–with the links and everything—"
"You wouldn't be here," Jeremy interrupted. "I know you think I'm upset because of how things have ended up. And you're right, I am. But you don't have to say things to try to make me feel better about it. I'll be all right."
"Sorry." Jo sat back in her chair. "You just look so sad."
"I am," Jeremy said. "But I'll get over it."
"My great-grandmother didn't. Never completely. And she lived to be eighty-three." She let Jeremy absorb that for a few moments before moving on. "What are you going to do next?"
"I'm staying here at COSI for a while," Jeremy said. "The people here don't think it's wise to turn me loose on the streets of the twenty-first century just yet. I'm inclined to agree."
"Are you gonna become an agent?"
"Me become an agent?" Jeremy started to dismiss the idea outright, but paused to give it some thought before he opened his mouth again. "I don't know. I guess I never had the chance to consider it until now. I can't see it as a realistic scenario, though. Why would they make me an agent? I don't know anything about the future, much less the time travel."
"But you know a lot about the past, or certain parts of it, anyway. And from what I can tell, the past is these people's primary business."
Jeremy gave a slight nod. "Good point. What about you? Now that you've found that this place really does exist, and that your great-grandmother really was a spy, are you going to follow in her footsteps and become one, too?"
"There's no chance in hell of that happening," Jo said. "I finished my history project, Mr. Bratt. One of the biggest lessons I learned was that history should be studied, and that's all. It shouldn't be meddled or tinkered with. There are too many variables."
Jeremy nodded again and said, "But someone has to ensure that no one else once again does any meddling or tinkering."
The End.