Slingshot

"Futurists have used it for years, punching in data and offering possible futures. We took it and used it in reverse. To look at the past and determine key points in history where things could go wrong and make sure they go the right way."

David, being a genius, figured it out quickly.

"Like the odds of a broken-hearted 21-year-old dropping out of school and chasing after an ex without an intervention from a pretty girl."

Gemma nodded. She walked closer to him. The next point was important, and David needed to see her face so he understood how serious this was.

"Or what happens if you gave a billionaire dotcom sociopath access to time travel technology," she said. "I'm sorry. The next few years are going to be hard for you. But he can't have that technology. Our predictive models with him and that breakthrough are all horror shows."

"Why didn't you show up in 2004 and tell me not to sign up with him? You could have stopped this?" he said. His agitation was growing.

"The AI said without his resources and money, you never would have made the leaps you have over the last three years. You had to take the money, but you could never give him your discovery," she said.

"He will ruin me. And I am close, aren't I? I know you can't tell me when, but I can feel it in my bones. I'll have the solution soon. Within the next year, maybe."

"The next month," Gemma whispered.

"Fuck. And I have to sit on this. I can't give it to Miles. I can't tell anybody."

"You have to do more than that. Miles is going to come looking for every inch of your research. He's going to try and sue you into oblivion to get it. You have to hide anything that he might find useful. And be really clever about how you hide it. Don't stick on a Google drive or hide your journals under floorboards. You need to make this disappear."

"For how long?"

"I don't know," Gemma whispered. "They wouldn't tell me."

David got up from the bed, paced around the room, and kicked the bathroom door open, startling Gemma. She'd seen plenty of passion with David during their brief times together, but not his temper. She had a feeling she was about to.

"God damn it, Gemma! This has been my whole life! Ever since you came waltzing into my life when I was a kid, being all sexy, coy, and mysterious. And like a wounded puppy, I followed you through time. Wishing away years until your next visit. Doing whatever you hinted at because some grand destiny awaited me.

"And now, when I'm finally close, you're here to snatch it away from me!"

And something snapped with Gemma. She'd taken crap from the Three Chairs for months. Her colleagues were shunning her. And now the man she risked so much for was yelling at her. Enough. She strode over to him. Something on her face must have been intimidating because he took several steps back despite being over a foot taller.

"Do not fucking talk to me about sacrifices. Our predictive models say this piece of shit will use your research to try and murder rivals in the past. Or people who pissed him off. Or to try to gain more power for himself. And that's the start. He could literally destroy time and space with your discovery if he goes full batshit crazy. And since he's already a sociopath, it's not hard to see that happening," she said.

"I didn't know..."

"Plus, you've no idea what I've gone through. None. There is a cost to me being here, David. A high one. I could have asked someone else to come and give you this news. It would have been a lot easier. But I fucking put you on this path, so the least you deserve is to get the news from me. So you do not get to fucking yell at me!"

The two of them stared at each other. Gemma was back for an hour, and it already felt like five. She collapsed on the king-sized bed and put her hands in her face. She was exhausted. Somehow, this was going even worse than she expected.

She felt the bed shift as David sat next to her. He put his arm around her, and despite wanting to choke him, she chose to lean against him instead.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Are you in a lot of trouble?"

"Yes. And I'm probably about to get into more," she said. "You asked in 1990 about the Leafs winning the cup? Are you a sports fan? It's mentioned in passing in your file."

If the change in topic confused him, he didn't show it.

"I'm from Toronto. Of course, I'm a Leafs fan. It's too bad you didn't tell me about the Jays winning in '92 and '93. I could have made a few bucks off that," he laughed.

Gemma popped off the bed, looked at him and grinned.

"Exactly," she said, giving him a quick kiss. She then moved to the desk, rummaging through it until she found a notepad and pen. She began writing quickly, taking up several pages of the notepad. When David came over to see what she was writing, he saw a bunch of names:

NFL (2008-11) - Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers

MLB (2007-11) - Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees, Giants, Cardinals

NBA (2007-11) - Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, Lakers, Mavericks

NHL (2007-11) - Ducks, Red Wings, Penguins, Blackhawks, Bruins

"Sorry, that's all I could memorize with confidence. I don't care much about sports," Gemma said.

David stared at the list and looked stunned.

"The Ducks win the Cup this year?" he said.

She shot him a dirty look. "This is what you're choosing to focus on?"

"Seriously, these are the winners for the next five years?"

"Yes. And you have to be careful with this, David. I'm not fucking kidding here. No tipping off lab friends. Don't take the winnings and put them in your bank account. Be smart about this. Wager as big as you can secretly get away with. Hide as much of it as you can. This is to keep you alive when the shit starts to come down," she said.

"Are you going to get into trouble with this?"

"If you're smart, then no. Like I said, David. They don't completely trust me there at the moment. They think I'm emotionally compromised when it comes to you."

David looked at her. She could see him processing that information.

"And...are you?"

"How can a genius be this dumb?" she said, taking his head in her hands, pulling him down and kissing him. When they came back up for air, he smiled at her.

"It's sometimes hard to tell from this end of things, Gemma. I have had a lot of time to think about, obsess, reassess....everything about you. The smallest smile or flick away of your eyes can lead to weeks of wondering if it means something. I value clarity in my work, but you've always muddied the water for me," he said.

"Sorry?"

"Don't be. There's nothing like a good mystery. And it's you, and not unlocking the science of time travel, that's been the greatest one of my life."

Gemma clamped down on the urge to start crying. She reached up and stroked his face again just as she felt her muscles begin to burn. She stepped back and clicked on the display of her watch - 3:05:15

"Fuck," she thought. "It's getting bad quicker than I thought."

Fortunately, she knew just the pain medication she wanted. Gemma reached for David's belt and began to undo it.

"Gemma, I'm 58 years old. I'm not exactly Brad Pitt," he said.

With the belt undone, she let gravity take care of his pants as she worked on his shirt. She was more frantic than their previous escapades, but time really, really wasn't on their side this evening. She paused and showed him the countdown on her watch.

"This is how much time I have left in 2007. And I have to factor in getting back to the alley and a few other things. I want this. And if you haven't been fantasizing about fucking me every day for the last 17 years, I'm going to be a little insulted."

That snapped David into motion. He pulled the bottom of her sweater and t-shirt over her head, ruffling her pixie cut. The next minute was a flurry of clothing being removed until Gemma was naked except for her socks. David was also naked. Any concerns he had over his appearance disappeared when Gemma dropped to her knees and began sucking his cock.

"God," he moaned, as her lips and tongue went to work. She never asked if he had other lovers between her visits. It seemed possessive in a way she hadn't earned. But if it has been 17 years since his last blowjob, well, she'd best make it a great one.

She dived into it with enthusiasm. Gemma loved his cock, but was also pragmatic. She only had so much time, and him cumming in her mouth was not in the plans. Fortunately, he was on the same wavelength. After a few minutes of running her tongue along the crown of his cock and fingers along his balls, he had enough.

She planned to hop in the middle of the bed and spread her legs. Instead, he placed her on the edge of the bed, knelt down and began licking her pussy.

"Ooooh God," she moaned. She might not know the last time David got a blowjob, but she knew exactly how long it had been since someone went down on her. Last year, or 17 years ago. It all depends on your perspective.

He also seemed to have learned a few tricks. The prickly texture of his beard. His tongue and fingers. His focus. They all brought her to the edge with shocking speed. She thought the pain she was feeling might dampen her sex drive, but it did something else instead. She hadn't dabbled much in BDSM, feeling it wasn't her thing. But the combination of pain and David's skill gave her the breakthrough she needed.

"Oh God!" Gemma screamed, cumming what felt like minutes after David started. She thought that would be it, but to her shock, he kept going and brought her off again moments later.

"Fuck," she said, panting and scrambling back up the bed to get a break. "I don't think I agreed to give up any more secrets for orgasms."

He climbed up on the bed after her. For a moment, she thought he would keep going down on her. Passing out from pain and orgasms would be bad. Instead, he positioned himself between her legs. His cock hovered at the entrance of her pussy.

"Is that still in play? I can think of a few more questions this time?"

"No," she said, and grabbed his head and pulled him into a kiss before he said something that might piss her off. He took the hint and kissed back, all the while teasing her with his cock.

"But you can fuck me. That's allowed," Gemma said. Smiling, David pushed inside her. The fullness of his cock inside her always felt good and made her moan. This evening, it was doing the job, taking the edge off the pain. No, more than that. It was mixing with it in weird ways. The pain was making her appreciate and enjoy the pleasure more. He had only been fucking her for a few minutes when she surprised them both by cumming.

"You're wired this evening," he said. Well, at least he wasn't bragging about his skills in getting her off. She twisted her body and he took the hint. Because of their height difference, missionary was always a little weird for her. Besides, she liked being on top and in charge.

She also discovered it allowed her to hit certain spots for pleasure or shift if a part of her was aching. If David noticed the increased squirming, he didn't say anything. Then again, her riding on top allowed him to play with her tits, which he was always a little obsessed with.

The sex was...different. Gemma had a limited basis for comparing, but it wasn't as manic as she thought it would be. She figured this would be a quickie with only a few hours. But they played with each other, enjoying things as much as possible. She hadn't said this was their last time, but he behaved like he knew it. Whenever she looked at him, it felt like he was memorizing her.

But she finally reached the point where even sex and orgasms weren't holding back the tide. His stamina was a big selling point. She had the sneaking suspicion he did equations in his head whenever things got too much for him to hold back. But she had to end this and get going. She rolled off him, and got on her hands and knees.

"Hard and fast, lover," she said, looking back at him. "Don't hold back."

David looked reluctant. She didn't want it to end either, but it had to. He got behind her, grabbed her hips and entered her pussy again. The first stroke was gentle. The rest weren't. He began pounding her, his hips bouncing off her ass.

"Oh fuck, oh god. That's it, David. I'm getting close. Fuck me and cum. Fuck me! Fuck me!" she screamed. And for a few blissful moments, nothing but dopamine and oxytocin ran through her body.

She heard him huffing and grunting when he slammed into her one last time and came. She could feel his warmth pulsing inside her. It wasn't enough to trigger another orgasm, but she loved the feel of it.

He rolled off and collapsed onto the bed. Gemma needed to get going, but could take a couple of minutes and cuddle. She rested her head on his chest and could feel his heart pounding. Part of her was proud of having that effect. The other part worried she might have fucked him to death. Having a heart attack after sex with her would do interesting things to the time stream.

"This is the last time, isn't it?" he said, running his fingers through her hair. He didn't sound angry or upset. It was more like he had processed what was happening. She could lie, but giving him false hope was cruel. And at this point, what was one more bit of rule-breaking.

"Yes," she said. "For...reasons, we only get three trips. This is my last one."

"You could have seen and done so much with those trips. Major events. Hell, I would have travelled to Germany and seen the Beatles perform. You wasted all three on me. It's...difficult to process sometimes," David said.

"It wasn't a waste. It was never a waste. They wanted to send someone else on this trip and I fought tooth and nail for it. Meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me. I wish...I wish there was more. But that's not to be," she said.

"I wish for that too," he said so quietly she barely heard him.

Enough. Gemma had to get going. The orgasmic bliss was fading. If this conversation continued, she'd start crying, which would do neither of them any good. She leaned up, kissed him, and then slid out of bed, gathering her clothes.

Gemma got dressed. The plan was to try and do as undramatic a farewell as possible. But as she was zipping up her coat, her hands started to shake. As much as she could, she'd been trying to deflect or ignore the pain as it crept deeper into her body. They trained you to manage it because the only effective painkillers left you so dopey you couldn't function. Advil and Tylenol didn't make a dent in Chronal Rejection.

And once her hands started shaking, the rest of her body joined the chorus. A wave of spasms passed through her body.

"Fuck!" she cried out, and she collapsed by the hotel room door.

"Gemma!" David yelled, running over to where she lay against the wall, willing her body to stop spasming. She had it mostly under control when he got to her, but an undramatic exit was out the window.

"I'm ok," she said, lying through her teeth. To his credit, David ignored the stupid response.

"This is some kind of...rejection," he said, taking her hand and noticing how red and hot it was. Then it hit him. "You're not supposed to be here now. Time is rejecting you like a foreign body or a virus."

She ignored the romantic comparison of her to a virus. "Yeah, 2007 is pretty pissed off with me at the moment," she said, sliding herself up the wall. "So were 1970 and 1990, but 2007 really has it out for me."

She could see the scientist in David war with being a compassionate human. Fortunately, it was a brief battle. He helped move her towards a chair, but she shook him off.

"I have to get going. I have about an hour before I...go," she said, then tried to take a step. Her legs wobbled again.

"Gemma, you're not going anywhere," he said.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck, fuck," she thought. She was about to do something she hated, but there were no other options.

"I can't stay, David. If I try to stay, I die. This is only going to get worse. I need to get back to where I arrived. You'll have to help me because I can't get there in time."

Again, she could see he had dozens of questions. Thankfully, he didn't start asking. Instead, he ran over, threw on his clothes, grabbed his coat, picked up her bag, and wrapped his arm around her. When they reached the elevator, they looked like a couple going for a late-night walk instead of him holding her up.

"Where are we going?"

Gemma had to pause and think, which was not a good sign.

"Beverly Street," she said at last. It's pretty close to the pub. I'll know the spot when I see it," she said.

It was downtown Toronto after midnight on a Wednesday night. It became obvious a taxi wasn't going to happen. They slowly moved from the hotel towards her alley. She hoped David could get her there without anyone stopping them. Gemma knew she looked either drunk or drugged. Her brain was getting punchy as well.

Through some miracle, he got her to the alley. He looked around, expecting to see some kind of device hidden among the garbage bins. Instead, to his surprise, she began stripping.

"Gemma, it's below freezing! What are you doing?"

She reached into her bag and pulled out the tinfoil fetish outfit.

"This is how I transit, David. I have to wear this and be in this alley when it happens. If not, bad things will happen to me on the other end," he said. She could pick up a slur in her voice and her hands shook again. "You need to help me get out of what I'm wearing and put this on. Please."

David undressed her. It wasn't as sexy as it had been a few hours earlier. Also, it was one thing if someone came along and found her stripping in an alley. It would be something else if someone saw David removing her clothes in an alley. Especially in her current messed up state.

He must have known that, because he quickly removed her clothes and pulled the transit outfit on her. She was dressed except for the hood.

"Now what?" David asked.

"We wait," she said. For once, she'd be happy to transit right now, but that's not how it worked. David looked anxious, but held her in a dark alleyway on a freezing cold night in February.

Finally, her watch vibrated. Five-minute warning. And just in time. She was finding it hard to focus now. She couldn't even imagine what her recovery was going to be like on the other end.

"Will you be ok? You...you look....not great," he said, stumbling to be concerned and trying not to insult her. Once again, as she did two years ago, 37 years ago, a lifetime ago....she thought it was cute.

"I'll be ok," she lied. "I'm so sorry I had to come back and ruin your life."

"You're worth the wait. Worth whatever is coming," David said, and kissed her.

Her watch buzzed again. It took her longer than it should to process what that meant. She took it off and tossed it towards the pile of clothes David had taken off her.

"Take all that," she whispered. "Destroy it all. And you need to get out of the alley. You can't be here when I transit. It's not safe for you.

"Gemma..." he started to protest.

"Go. Please," she said with as much force as she could, pushing him away from her. He stumbled backwards, grabbed her things and moved to the street, looking both ways before turning back to her. She took one last look at him, standing there in the streetlight.

"Damn it, I've fallen in love with that geek. Fucking time travel," she thought. Then she put the shades in place and fumbled with the hood until she could feel it seal. She should be standing, but there was no chance of that. Instead, she got on her hands and knees. She stared at where David was.

"Goodbye," she started to say.

Then she felt the pull and snap of the slingshot. She screamed and was gone.

Location: Toronto, Canada