Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

FOUR- Details and Disagreements

There'd been some kind of falling-out, though neither of them would tell me anything about what had happened. Actually, they both had gone to great lengths to deny that anything was amiss, which only made it that much more obvious.

About a week or so after that, Lukas had announced his relationship with Aiden, which made me even more suspicious about...well, everything. Not only did he appear to be in a rebound relationship, but that relationship was with someone who had been beyond notorious for causing trouble.

"Quite frankly, I don't think you're really qualified to have an opinion on this." Lukas contributed testily.

I let out a slightly malicious laugh. "Since when does being aromantic impact my ability to tell when someone's bad news? If either of us were biased, I'm pretty sure it'd be you. You're the one screwing him, after all."

He turned red, then venomously hissed, "You know what? Fuck. You. You don't even know how hypocritical you sound, calling Aiden out for being a jerk."

He adjusted his grip on the reigns. "Have fun trying to figure out your little timeline mystery, 'cause you're not getting any help from me."

With that, Lukas dug his heels into his horse's sides, urging her into a trot, then a gallop. I watched him ride off, still fuming.

After he was out of view, I let out an aggrieved sigh. I wasn't even sure how that argument had escalated so fast, but I knew it would probably be a few days before he was willing to speak to me again. Unfortunate timing, considering what we'd just found, but our friendship had survived worse.

I tried to let go of my frustration as I rode back towards Beacontown, but the fight just kept coming back to me. I knew I'd gone too far, multiple times. I didn't know what had been up with me recently- I'd been too irritable and argumentative for anyone's good.

Maybe it's loneliness, I considered. Or stagnation. You've been in the same place for too long, doing the same things day after day, and it's getting to you.

But I knew that couldn't be it. I'd been leader of Beacontown for years now, and this new antipathy had only started in the past few weeks. I loved my town, and I loved doing everything required of my leader position. I didn't want to abandon it, so that couldn't be the source of whatever was wrong with me.

Plus, I wasn't alone. I had Radar and Lukas by my side (most of the time), and the friendly support of many Beacontown citizens. Most of the time, I was entirely content.

My thoughts wandered dully as I approached the gates of home. I hadn't been that far away when Lukas had left, but the very last leg of the journey had felt longer without him. Like the day before, I put Inara in her stall and returned to the Order headquarters, though that day, Radar was nowhere to be found.

This wasn't entirely unusual. As my Co-Hero in Residence, he ended up taking care of almost as much stuff as I did, especially when I left town.

I went into my office and flopped down at my desk. I retrieved the paper from my inventory and was about to set it down when I suddenly got the feeling that there was something wrong.

I looked around, frowning. Nothing seemed immediately out of place, but...something about the room was suddenly setting off my something-is-weird-here instincts.

Still a little suspicious, I placed the parchment on my desk and examined it again.

Constants. Variables. Deviations. Primes. All the talk about timelines. My name, scrawled in bold red ink.

Things that all had to be clues, pointing to some big answer that I couldn't yet see.

The door suddenly slammed open, and I jumped. Radar leaned inside, grinning when he saw me.

"Jess! You're back."

I offered him a small smile in return. "Yep. Come on, you know I wouldn't just disappear."

He shrugged, then seemed to remember something. "Where's Lukas? Did he already go home?"

I sighed. "Something like that."

Radar gave me a suspicious look, and I caved. He'd gotten uncannily good at interpreting my more evasive answers. "We kinda got into a fight, alright? On the way back, he just...brought up something he shouldn't've, and everything went downhill from there." I summarized halfheartedly.

"Oh. That's, uh...that's unfortunate. Well, did you find anything, at least?"

"Uh...yes, actually." I did my best to describe the contents of the hidden room, the treelike chart, painted words, and the way the dozens of mismatched papers had been pinned to the wall.

"I only saw one paper that made even a little bit of sense, so I brought it back." I finished, handing the parchment to him. His dark green eyes widened as he read over the list of words, but I hardly noticed. I'd suddenly just realized what had seemed off to me when I'd first entered the room.

"Hey, Radar, you didn't happen to move anything on my desk, did you?" I asked casually.

He looked up at me, his mind obviously still processing the paper I'd given him, and shook his head. "Nope. Why?"

Why? Because the map- the same map with the false town that I'd searched for yesterday -was gone, just as completely as if it had never been there at all.

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aaahh so many questions

where's the map?? why is Jess so irritable?? what's gonna happen with him and Lukas no longer on speaking terms?? is Lukas's relationship with Aiden just as doomed as Jess is predicting?? who was it who wrote all those notes and stuff in the secret room??

I know the answers to all of those, but you're gonna have to just wait and see :))

yes yes I know I'm horrible

next chapter...TOMORROW!

...just kidding. it's in a week. you know the drill.

Word count- 2093