Somewhere, My Love

Remember WENN and its characters are copyright Rupert Holmes, Howard Meltzer and A*cough*C (there's an M in there somewhere) Original characters are copyright Michele Savage as is the story.

Thanks Dani for dreaming wonderful dreams and sharing them.. eventually.. ;) Thanks Diane and Dani for helping to edit and Dani, Dana, Diane and sometimes Jennie for beta-reading. Thanks Especially to Diane for 21 weeks of editing this monster!!

Please... comments are always welcome! :-) Enjoy and let me know what you think. :-)

"You'll come to me, out of the long ago".

-Somewhere My Love

click image for big pic

Hilary Winslow-Morgan sang along with the radio as she drove her rental car from the airport in the unusually warm, clear March sun. Her father had called insisting that she fly to Pittsburgh. She had no clue what he wanted but with her father, it could be anything.

She pulled the maroon convertible into the parking lot facing the gleaming white outer-walls of the Winslow-Tech Research Complex and showed the man at the gate her pass.

"Hey Hilary, what's been happening with you?" Charlie Oswald, the gate attendant recognized her and asked.

"Not much, Chuck. Starting rehearsals Monday for a new musical in New York," she answered as she swept the windblown auburn hair out of her face.

"I'll see that you two get tickets again." she promised with a wink and a smile.

Charlie reached out and handed her the parking token, "Here. Your dad told me to let you know that he's waiting for you in Building C."

"Great, thanks!" She took the token and sped off toward C building. As she parked she whistled along with the radio as ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ was winding down to a finish. You've been listening to WENN! Where all the hits are wenn- She turned off the car groaning at the bad pun on the radio, grabbed her purse and headed inside to see her father.

She walked down the stark white corridors still singing. Her brother stepped out of his office as she walked past it.

"Hi Sis, glad you could get here on such short notice." Adam Winslow wrapped an arm around Hilary's side and gave her a small hug.

"What does he want now, Ad?" Hilary asked, "I have a life you know. I cannot keep dropping everything I do for Dad's silly wild goose chases through history."

Adam laughed, "We need a woman on this one and, well, you're kinda the only woman in the family."

Hilary gave her oldest of five brothers a sarcastic laugh, "I've been regretting that one for years."

The two walked into the messily kept office of Thomas Winslow. "Hi Bunny! I'm glad you could make it," the rumpled gray-haired scientist said as he hugged his daughter.

"What is so important that I had to drop everything, Pop?" She asked, wanting to get to the point.

"You kids." Tom stated as he walked to a desk that was sprinkled liberally with papers, files, and photos. "You never take the time to enjoy life and the people in it. You just rush, rush, rush."

"All right," Tom turned and glared at his eldest son. He turned his attention to Hilary, "Come here, Bun." When Hilary walked to him, he showed her a picture.

"Am I supposed to know this woman?" She asked as she studied the photograph, "other than she resembles me?"

"That is Hilary Booth," he explained, "she was a radio actress in the early 40's. At least she *was* to be, instead she was killed in a suspicious automobile accident ten years before the date in our files.

Hilary scooted some of the papers over and sat on the desk. "More time line futzing?"

"Yes. Seems our 'axis' is back. I have no idea who these other travelers are, but they are purposefully altering history enough to make me think they are trying to change the outcome of World War Two." Thomas explained what he knew to his skeptical daughter.

Hilary looked toward her brother and was surprised to find a serious look on his face. "He's not kidding, Sis."

She furrowed her brow, "What does the too early death of one woman have to do with World War Two?"

"She was supposed to have been killed in 1941, right here in Pittsburgh, during some sort of melee at WENN," Adam explained.

"She was trying to prevent a man named Rollie Pruitt from giving secret codes to a man named Seldon Sentry." Adam further explained, "Miss Booth was killed by Pruitt when he figured out what she was trying to do."

"So they got the codes anyway." Hilary added, still confused, "what did it matter whether she was there or not?"

"No, they didn't." Tom cut in, "her husband, a man named Jeff Singer, was able to stop them in her place. They didn't get the codes."

"Oh," Hilary began to understand, "so because she was killed ten years earlier than this, she never met this Jeff guy right?"

"Oh no!" She stood and backed away from the desk, "don't give me those looks. I practically had to sell my soul for this role, and rehearsals start Monday."

"Why is this so important," she asked. "I've worked a good long time to have a career this solid. This role could get me another Tony nomination."

"Hilary, if Pruitt gets those codes half of Pittsburgh's factories will be sabotaged," Adam stated emphatically. "The factory explosions will travel to other major cities across America, eventually destroying the will to fight. The propaganda distributed by Nazi sympathizers will brainwash the public, allowing

Hilary sat again on the desk, "and all this is because one woman died too early?"

"She's also a very distant cousin of yours," Tom added offhandedly, "your mother actually named you after her."

Hilary glanced at Adam, "Why do I think that has more to do with it than anything?"

"Dad, if this is so major, why hasn't our time line been affected?" Hilary asked.

"This alteration just happened three weeks ago. The ripple won't catch up to our timeline until the mid-nineties," Adam explained for her.

Hilary took a deep resigned breath, "you'll have to let me think about this." She stood, "I'm heading over to the Red Bird to see Justin and Benji. I'll be back here tomorrow with my decision." She left the room, but was annoyed to hear that Adam had followed her.

"Sis, this is really important to Dad." Adam implored, "I've done a lot of following up on his timeline studies and this is big. I don't know who these people are who keep altering the timeline, but they need to be stopped."

"Adam, how do we know it isn't Dad that needs to be stopped?" She looked her brother in the eye, "this timeline altering stuff has never set well with my history background. It's wrong, no matter who does it." She turned and began walking again.

"Hilary, who won World War Two? In your 'official' college courses, who won that war?" Adam snapped while keeping pace with her.

"The Allies did," she smirked the obvious answer, and lost even more patience with her brother.

"In this crooked timeline that Dad just discovered, the Axis won. I'm sorry, Hilary, but that's not the future I intend for my kids."

Hilary stopped momentarily and tried to keep the lump in her throat from becoming more. She faced her brother, "if you are implying that I don't care because my son was never given the chance for a future then you'd better apologize now, Adam"

"You see, that's the problem with you and Dad and the whole bloody Winslow boys club!" Hilary started angrily, "You never think. Let Hilary drop her career, let Hilary drop her life just to go live out a dead woman's life? No thank you." She again started walking down the hall but was stopped when Adam grabbed her arm.

She turned, "and what in the hell am I supposed to do with a man that I never should have met; that I have no desire to even deal with?" She didn't bother stopping the tears, "I have been there and I have done that and I have absolutely NOTHING to show for it, but a nine year old son in a bloody cemetery!" She turned away from her brother and said softly, "RJ would still be alive today if his father hadn't insisted on taking him out in that boat. Ryan knew he was afraid of the water."

"Hilary, you can't keep blaming Ryan for the accident." Adam spoke softly and lay his hands on his sister's shoulders. "RJ was wearing his life vest. He tripped and fell in. There was nothing anyone could do."

"You know, I always wonder with all this technology and ability to go into the past, why Daddy didn't try to save his grandson."

"Hilary, RJ had a limited timeline. You know we can't bring back people who are already dead in their time," Adam reminded her.

"You knew?!" She asked with shocked incredulity, "you knew my son was going to die, and you did nothing!?"

"You son of a--" She turned, ran down the hallway and out to her rental car. She tore out of the driveway, nearly broad-siding a car as she turned toward her twin brother Justin's nightclub.

The radio was blaring an upbeat tune which Hilary quickly slammed off. "WENN." She mumbled, "I always hated that damned station."

She sped into the driveway of the Red Bird Inn and cornered into the back lot. Hilary yanked her suitcase out of the trunk and stormed to the apartment behind the club that her brother and his lover shared. She sharply knocked on the door and Benji answered.

"Hilary!" The thin tow-headed man jubilantly hugged her. He could feel the tension in her immediately, "what's wrong, honey?"

"Oh, the usual. My father expecting me to drop everything to go live someone else's life." She hugged the man back and took a deep breath, squelching the emotions, "So, how's my other brother?"

"I'm doing just fine." Benji filled her in, "the club is doing great and Justin and I couldn't be happier."

"I'm glad to hear that someone in this family is happy." Hilary forced a smile and walked into the room she usually occupied and threw her case on the bed. She continued through to the nightclub, which was decorated simply in reds and blacks, and saw her twin brother Justin plucking on the piano near the dimly lit stage. She sat next to him and lay her head on his shoulder.

Hilary gave an ironic chuckle when she recognized the song he was halfheartedly playing as 'Am I Blue'. "Boy you sure know how to greet a girl."

"Actually, I don't." Justin said with a smile, "that's why I'm living with a man."

Hilary laughed, "touché." She wrapped her arms around Justin's waist and hugged him tightly. "I've just been to see Dad."

"I knew something wasn't right." Justin turned and pulled his twin into a protective hug, "what does the old fool want now?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but began to whimper, "they knew that my baby was going to die. Justy, they knew and did nothing."

"Sissy," Justin leaned back and looked at her, "you've got to let this go. It's nearly been a year-"

"No, I didn't know." Justin brushed an errant bang away from Hilary's eyes, "if I had, Sissy, I'd have told you."

She eased back into her brother's warm soothing embrace and let the tension drain. She felt Benji's hand squeeze her shoulder lightly and saw him set a glass of soda down for her to drink.

Benji sat in the chair next to the piano and clapped once, "well, I sense that our dear sister needs cheering up."

Justin plinked a few keys on the piano and asked, "so, when is Dad sending you this time?"

"A-a-hh!" When Justin began playing the "12th Street Rag", Benji yanked Hilary onto her feet and dared her into a Charleston with him. Soon they were all giddily laughing, dancing and singing along to Justin's ragtime music.

Later that evening, the Red Bird Inn was filled with its usual Friday night crowd. Hilary, Justin, Benji and their youngest brother Jonathan, all sat around the center table. Hilary lay sideways in her chair, her head resting on Justin's shoulder and her feet propped across Jonathan's legs.

She took another drink of the whiskey sour she was holding and stared at the black vulture Jonathan had painted on the ceiling. The vulture was in a full attack position, and if stared at long enough gave the illusion of swooping downwards. "God, Jonny's depressing."

Justin laughed, "you should have seen the way he -wanted- to decorate this place. All blacks, it looked like a dungeon."

Hilary chuckled, then looked toward her youngest brother when he patted on her legs for her attention. She signed, what? to the deaf twenty-two year old.

Justin interrupted the conversation, but also signed his comment so Jonathan could be included, "so what are you going to do? You going to go?"

"Well," she answered and signed, "I've been giving it a lot of thought and I do think I should go. Adam is right, we can't let the other travelers change history. Especially that one."

"Apparently this woman was supposed to die in 1941. Guess I'll be there about ten years. Well, ten to twelve to me, it's usually a bit faster in real-time." Hilary answered. At the confused look on Benji's face, she smiled, "to you, I'll only be gone seven or eight years."

Justin sighed and softly said, "I'll miss my other half." He wrapped his arm around her stomach as she lay her head back on his shoulder.

"I'll miss you too, twin-bro." She reached behind her and grabbed his head to pull him down to give him a light peck on the lips.

She sat up and then smiled, "But there is at least one consolation." She picked up her drink and swirled the ice around in the glass and then looked through the spinning liquid, "I'm supposed to meet this woman's husband. Last thing I need is a commitment, but men are good for something. And God knows I could use that."

Justin lifted his glass and raised it with a wink and a smile to Benji, "I will drink to that."

Benji smiled and joined in the toast, clinking his glass with Hilary's and Justin's. They all laughed when Jonathan signed, I'll pass.

The following day, Hilary spent the time getting her affairs in order. She called her agent, complained a lot and apologized profusely for having to back out of the musical at the last minute. Thankfully, the woman understood, having been her agent through many of her abrupt disappearances and had lined up an understudy.

She made plans with Justin to keep her co-op mortgage and fees paid in New York and other official things in order.

She then stopped by her father's office and retrieved as much information as she could about Hilary Booth. This was one part of the traveling she never minded. At least it helped hone her acting skills.

Her father had refused to give her any information on who she was to meet at any given moment in the time she was to be living for Miss Booth. He felt that it would cause her to anticipate and therefore force the meetings, rather than let them happen naturally.

"Can't you give me anything about this Jeff fella?" she asked. "Can I at least see a picture so I'll recognize him?"

"No," Tom refused. "I don't want you to expect the meeting. I want to -try- to get things as close to the correct timeline as possible. If you are looking for this man around every corner, you may accidentally make another mess of things."

"Come on Dad. Is he nice? Is he a jerk? Is he an idiot who would take his son, who was afraid of water, out on a boat?"

"Hilary, please." The frazzled man requested, "Ryan ... never mind. I've said my piece on that subject. Can we go on here?"

"Well, what if I meet the wrong man?" Hilary stated. "My life story," she added under her breath.

"You won't," her father frustratedly answered. "Do you have everything you need there?"

"I'm gathering the family tonight so we can have a nice dinner before you leave."

Hilary drove her car to Point State Park and walked to the benches near the water. She read about Hilary Booth's life. In both versions of the timeline she was an actress that had one major hit play and then many disappointments. She had been tricked out of a good role and had been given a leading role in a road show as a consolation.

In the timeline she was going back to fix, Miss Booth was killed in Texas when the taxi she was riding in swerved to miss an oncoming car and rolled into a ditch. The accident had occurred in no man's land and she died before she could be found.

Hilary sighed and closed the file. "I thought my life was depressing." She glanced at her watch and noticed that it was nearing time for her to be at her Father's.

The next afternoon, Hilary stood in her father's office with Adam, Justin, Benji and Jonathan. "Well, what do you think?" she asked as she modeled the period clothing that Adam's wife had made for her. It was a direct duplicate of the dress Hilary Booth was wearing when she'd been killed. They hadn't wanted any discrepancies.

Her father gave her a communication device to keep in constant contact. "Now, when these batteries start winding down, Bunny, you tell me. I'll send you more." Thomas told her, "This is the longest you will be gone, so please make sure you keep this thing working."

She wiped a tear away from his eye and hugged Jonathan tightly. Over his shoulder, she instructed Justin. "Make sure he is ok, and that he takes his meds, and that he knows he is loved."

She pulled away from Jonathan and hugged Justin. "You take care Justin. Don't let anything or anyone come between you or Benji you got that? If they do, they'll have to deal with me."

"I won't Sissy," Justin said. "You take care of yourself. I'm going to keep a communicator with me at all times. If you ever need to talk, Hilary, call me. I'm here."

"I will Just." She pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I'll need you to please keep fresh flowers with RJ. And don't forget his birthday. Tell him that Mommy's sorry she can't come read him a story on his birthday, but I asked Uncle Justin too."

"All right, Now I am sending you back to November 15th, 1931." Tom explained, "you'll be set down just after the car wreck. All you need to do is get the identification that you need and walk back into town."

"Not too far." Adam spoke up from the controls of the 'time machine'. "And the town is Dallas."

"Oh, Hilary, one more thing." Adam said just as she was stepping into the small room that had been converted to the "travelers booth" as her father had officially called it.

"Why? Hilary sings, I sing." She objected. "I can't -not- sing, it's second nature to me."

"Sis, you are supposed to be from Ligonia, Maine. When you sing you sound like you are from Virginia, Maine," Adam grinned. "It'll be a dead giveaway."

"Well," she sarcastically snapped, "excuse me if I spent the first twelve years of my life in Richmond."

"Goodbye Sis. We'll talk to you when you get there to make sure you're all right." Adam explained, "I'm setting you down out of sight from the street. The first thing you need to do is find that car and get your IDs."

Hilary stepped into the traveler's booth. She knew she was on her way due to the nausea that gripped her as it always did. She ignored the feeling and concentrated on how she was going to act as Hilary Booth.

She left the room and walked outside into a warm, dry sun. When she turned, the box was, as usual, gone. She looked around the Texas landscape until she saw a plume of smoke rising from beyond a hill. "That must be the car." She walked to the smoke and came across the twisted wreckage. She winced, "I hope she died quickly."

"Bunny?" She heard her father's voice coming from her compact shaped communicator.

"I'm here. I can see the wreckage now and am going to get the identification from--" She stopped, not wanting to say it. "I'll talk to you later." She closed the gold lid and slid it into her purse. "I feel like I'm stealing." Hilary mumbled to herself, "Okay, I AM stealing. I hate this."

She stepped closer to the taxi and saw the driver slumped over the wheel. She looked for the passenger she knew was there and found her trapped between the front seat and the back, which had been folded as if it were an accordion. There was a deep gash in her neck where a shard of windshield glass had passed as it embedded itself in the seat cushion centimeters from her. "Dear God what hit this car?"

Hilary found the purse containing the identification and was starting to open it when she heard a very weak, pain filled moan. She glanced up quickly to see where the gasp came from, wondering perhaps if the driver were still alive. She reacted with horror and pulled her communicator out to contact her father.

Hilary started to respond with the first retort that came to mind, but remembered where she was and said reassuringly, "yes. I came to stay with you until help can arrive."

Hilary felt the hand loosen its hold. She closed her eyes and cried for a woman she knew briefly, yet would soon become. "I hope I can live your life in a way that would make you proud." She whispered.

"Adam." she called quietly on her communicator, "don't argue with me, but I want you to take her and give her a proper burial. Since I'm taking her life, I want you to bury her next to Ryan. It's only fair."

"Hilary--," Adam started to object, but his father told him Bunny had a good idea. This way no body would be found. Adam conceded defeat and made the arrangements

"Would you take her now, please," Hilary requested, "I won't feel right getting the IDs with her here."

Hilary waited until the body was gone. She took the contents out of the other woman's purse and transferred them to her own. She then sent the empty purse back to 1987 so there would be no trace of a passenger. Once that was done, she began the trek into town.

After the third hour of walking, Hilary was tired, hot and angry. "Not very far. I'd like to know what your definition of not very far is, Adam Winslow." She griped at her brother beneath her breath.

She finally made it to civilization, hailed a cab and directed the driver to the hotel she knew Hilary was staying in. She went up to the room and dissolved onto the bed with a relaxing "ahh." She allowed herself a leisurely nap before going through the clothes and items that Hilary Booth owned.

Hilary looked for an appointment book of some kind so she could determine what was on the agenda. She froze when she heard a knock on the door. "Oh great, I'm really not ready for this."

She glanced into a mirror to make sure she was presentable and then opened the door. "Yes?"

"Hilary, we were going to dinner tonight, did you forget?" The middle-aged man said to her a bit sharply.

"Oh, gosh, I must have. I'm so sorry." Hilary faked as she wracked her brain to try to remember who this man was. "Please come in and let me put on something much more dinner appropriate."

Hilary inwardly groaned, but smiled widely, "Ah, but if we skip dinner then we won't have the energy for later." Hopefully you'll pass out first, she thought with a forced smile.

She endured dinner and subtly learned through the course of the evening that the man she was with was Neal Munson, the director of Razzle Dazzle. She'd seen the script on the night stand in her hotel room and determined to commit it to memory the minute the lecher left.

Thankfully she was able to put off any encounters with him, via a headache complaint. She closed the door and promptly decided she needed a hot bath. She took the script into the bath with her to study, and kept remembering Munson's complaints during dinner; they had to replace their leading man, The costumes faded out under the lights, and a million other details Hilary ignored.

Munson had asked Hilary to help out with auditioning, but knowing that Hilary Booth considered that beneath her, she hemmed and hawed before dramatically consenting. The only reason she did was to learn more about the predicament she was in.

Within two weeks, she had settled comfortably into Hilary Booth's routine and was actually beginning to enjoy herself. She'd actually missed being on the road with a show, though she hid that since it was well known that Hilary Booth detested being on the road.

The search for the leading man still hadn't yielded any results and Hilary was beginning to get rather frustrated herself. It wasn't that tough a role and how difficult was it to act opposite her?

She stood in the wings until the next man was called and snapped immediately to attention when she heard Munson call the name "Jeffrey Singer." She peeked around the curtains wondering what this future husband of hers ... um ... Hilary's looked like.

When he practically bounded into her view she laughed. He turned at the sound of her voice and her laughter caught in her throat. She was completely unprepared for the bolt of electricity that shot through her. She pulled back quickly and hid herself among the folds of the curtain. She willed herself to calm down and took a deep breath. "Jeez, Hilary," she whispered to herself, "He's just a man. They're all the same."

Munson called Hilary onstage. Despite her years of experience she felt as if this was her debut. She smiled and nodded encouragement to Mr. Singer for she knew all actors were terrified at auditions. Hilary called upon her professionalism and gave a flawless performance that Jeff was able to work off of perfectly.

She was impressed by Mr. Singer's acting ability and mentally gave him the role opposite her. She continued with the rest of the auditions, and once finished, walked to the director and gave him her recommendation.

That evening, as Hilary walked into her hotel room, her thoughts were a jumbled mass of confusion. Jeff Singer was not at all what she imagined him to be. Her father's refusal to tell her anything hadn't helped. As she'd read of Hilary Booth's past and the kind of men she associated with, she fully expected Jeff Singer to be, for lack of a better comparison, another John Barrymore.

But, he certainly hadn't been. She recalled her reaction when his eyes met hers the first time. She was definitely attracted to him; he was the best looking man she had ever laid eyes on. The knowledge that he was to be her husband, actually warmed her thoughts now, rather than froze them. Of course to be completely totally honest, it could just be carnal lust she was feeling.

She plopped down onto the bed and kicked out some energy. She then sat up and decided she wanted to have dinner with him. Yes. It was time she got to know this Jeff Singer.

She called the front desk to start her quest to find which hotel he was staying in. She was relieved she didn't have to do any more calling since he was registered at the same hotel. The operator connected her with his room extension.

Jeff told her that he had been cast in the show and thanked her for her confidence in him. He agreed when she asked if he would like to have dinner, wrote down the number to her suite and said he'd be right over.

Hilary rushed to the closet to look for something nice to wear. She was glad to have found that the other Hilary was close enough to her clothing size that she didn't have to buy all new outfits. The dresses were a wee bit tight, but a quick sewing alteration as she needed fixed that.

She pulled out a dress she had fallen in love with the first time she looked through this closet. She hadn't had an opportunity to wear it yet, so now she was going to bask in the elegance of the dress. It was a bias cut black satin bodice with wide shoulder straps, and a drape down her back. The skirt was handkerchief style with a sheer black overlay on top of ivory satin.

Hilary walked to the mirror to survey her appearance and noted that she looked quite ... swell. She twirled giddily around letting the skirting of the dress float naturally around her. She stopped again to look in the mirror. Why was she acting this way? She hadn't felt this giddy over a man since the day Ryan Morgan asked her to be his date for the Prom.

She quickly styled her hair and was pulling on a pair of elbow length ivory satin gloves when she heard the knock on the door. She glanced down and surveyed her appearance. Was she over dressed? Too seductively dressed? The knock again. Hilary growled at herself and moved to her door and answered it.

She opened the door and Jeff smiled. She noticed he took his hat off as greeted her. He took her breath away. Ryan never even did that. "Come in." She watched him as he walked past her. He was wearing a black suit coat and pants with a white shirt. He looked quite handsome. She made a mental note to buy him a lot of black.

He turned and started to say something, but stopped and fumbled nervously with his hat. It dawned on Hilary with an embarrassing blush that she was standing with her room door wide open and staring at him. "Oh ... uh ...," she shut the door. "Did you want to go out to dinner or order room service?"

"Either is fine with me," he answered. "Um, I wanted to thank you for seeing that I got the part, but, uh... I--" he gestured nervously at the room.

It hit her then that he thought that she was expecting 'payment'. "Oh! No! I . . . no!" She assured, quickly. She took the hat from him and set it on the table. "I recommended you for that role, because I thought you were the best man for it." She walked to the small wet bar, "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you." He smiled and sat, making himself comfortable. "I hope I didn't overstep my bounds. It's been my experience trying to find work on these smaller shows that ... well, you know."

She smiled and sat next to him. She took a drink of the brandy she'd poured for herself and said, "I understand. I don't play that game, I never have." She told him sincerely. Inwardly she hoped it wouldn't be a major change from the other Hilary's norm. There were some things this Hilary just did not do. She spoke again to Jeff with a humored smile, "Well, if you insist on paying me, how about dinner."

Hilary thought about it and decided she'd rather have this evening kept private. "In." She then raised her hands, "No strings!" she said with a laugh.

Hilary spent the next few weeks nearly inseparable from Jeff. She cared very little that most of the cast and crew of the show whispered rumors that he'd slept his way into the production. They both knew that was not the case.

Hilary had found that she just really enjoyed his company. On one level, he reminded her a little of RJ, with his almost wide-eyed innocence and mischievous little boy grin. And on the other hand he made her feel things she'd never felt before. She found herself wanting and willing to do just about anything for him.

Somehow completely spontaneously on December 31st, they ended up in Matamoros, Mexico. Before she had time for second, or even first thoughts, they were married. It wasn't until the following morning, when she woke up lying next to him; his arm draped casually across her stomach in his sleep, that it hit her like a ton of bricks. She married him. The regret kicked in instantly.

Yes, she'd known she was going to marry him anyway, but what happened to dating? To taking the time before making that commitment? Why did this man make her feel like dropping every semblance of common sense she had? She couldn't answer those questions at all.

The arguing began less than a day after they were married. She wasn't sure why suddenly he was grating on every last nerve she had. Maybe it was just the closeness. The fact that they saw each other night and day. Well, the nights were fine. In fact they were very fine. It was the days that were usually problems.

She recognized exactly what caused the daytime friction. Clashing egos. The worst thing that two married actors should ever do, in her opinion, was work together.

She needed to talk to someone about her situation. Hilary walked to a secluded spot, and making sure she was alone, called home. "Dad, or Adam?"

After a few moments, she recognized her brother's voice. "Everything all right, Sis?"

"Let me ask you something. What was this marriage like? Because I feel like I'm trapped. On one hand he's the most irritating, self absorbed, pigheaded jerk I've ever met, on the other hand, he's like a little boy who needs someone to take his hand and guide him."

"And on another hand," Hilary rambled on, not having heard Adam speak, "He's warm and caring and attentive and I wouldn't trade the nights in his arms for--"

Adam laughed, then turned serious, "Sis, don't fall in love with him. You won't be there forever and I don't want you to get hurt."

Hilary closed the lid and slid the compact into her purse. She walked back to the hotel, "strained. Why do I always get stuck with the idiots? Someone answer me that."

After two weeks of screaming at each other over every little thing they realized their mistake and divorced as spontaneously as they were married. Then, after spending two days in separate hotel rooms, they were drawn back together like magnets and went back to sharing one.

Late one night, while lying in each other's arms, Hilary finally asked, "what are we doing?"

Hilary sat up, pulled the sheet around her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, "I mean one of us needs to make up my mind."

Jeff pulled himself closer to Hilary and wrapped and arm around her, "Hilary, I ... I don't know. I just know that I need you. I don't know what it is beyond that."

Jeff moved his arm, "for all of the above maybe. I honestly don't know." He shrugged, trying to figure out what was going on between them, then asked, "why are you still here?"

She abruptly pulled herself out of bed, dragging the sheet with her. "Because I have to be." It was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"What?" Jeff asked incredulously. He stood angrily and began pulling on his clothes. "Well, no one is forcing you to be with me Hilary! If I am that intolerable to you, I'll take my leave now." He gathered his belongings and tossed them into the small overnight bag he'd been using to carry things between their two rooms. "I'll tender my resignation with Mr. Munson in the morning. You won't ever have to see me again!"

He left with a slam of the door and Hilary sank into the nearest chair. "Because I crave you, Jeffrey Singer. That's why I'm still here," she whispered. Hilary slumped further into the chair, leaned her head into her hands and sobbed.

She didn't sleep at all throughout the rest of the night and ignored the almost constant requests for attention from the communicator. She devised her own plan of action and when morning broke she elegantly dressed herself and hurried to Jeff's room, hoping she hadn't missed him. He finally answered the door after the third knock.

"Oh, I see the diva has decided to grace ME with her presence." Jeff snapped and then bowed, "What may I do for you, Your Highness?"

"I thought I wanted to apologize," She said as she started to turn away, "but I see now that I was wrong."

"Hilary, wait!" Jeff pleaded. When she stopped, he gently touched her shoulder and asked if she would come in. "Hilary, I was awake the rest of the night trying to decide what I was really going to do."

She cautiously entered the room, tossed a pair of discarded pants from a chair onto the floor and sat, unsure if she wanted to listen.

He sat on the bed opposite her, "I decided that I wanted to stay here. For some reason I'd rather be miserable with you, than miserable without you."

Hilary gave a small halfhearted chuckle. "Gee thanks." She moved to sit next to him, "the funny thing is, I decided the same thing."

She stood quickly, "no. If I let you touch me . . ." she trailed the sentence off, not knowing how to finish it.

"I have an idea," Jeff said, "Why don't we go to breakfast, have a nice meal and then go from there."

Just as they were finishing their meal, Neal Munson appeared in the doorway, obviously looking for someone. His face relaxed when he saw Jeff and Hilary at the table and made his way over to them. "I'm glad I found you," he said excitedly as he slid into the booth next to Hilary. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed, "have I got some news for you two!"

Something in Jeff was bothered by the way the man touched Hilary. He cleared his throat possessively and glared. "What is your news?"

Hilary smiled at Jeff and moved away from the director's hold. Mr. Munson made her nervous and she was secretly glad to know that Jeff cared enough to react that way.

"Sorry," Munson said offhandedly as he moved his arm. "The backers called today and since you two got married our income has blossomed! The public LOVES the idea of the lead couple being played by two lovebirds themselves."

"But --" Jeff started to tell Munson about their divorce, but he felt Hilary kick him from under the table. He glanced at her and she subtly shook her head no.

Jeff gave her a wry grin and replied with equal sweetness, "yes it is." He searched for an equally corny nickname and exaggerated, "Mittens."

Hilary rolled her eyes, then recovered and smiled again at the man sitting next to her. "And what does this mean?"

"Means you two get a raise and we head for a decent theatre in Oklahoma City." He rubbed his hands together, "and I get some clout with the backers for my next show." He stood, "thank you for falling in love," turned and left.

Hilary dropped her head onto the table with a groan. She glared at Jeff from behind the water glass, propped her head up on her hand and sneered, "Mittens?," with the most disgusted look on her face she could manage.

Hilary started laughing so hard her eyes teared up. "Do you know what this means, Pumpkin?"

Hilary smiled and picked up her half empty glass of orange juice and raised it as a toast. "I guess this is what they would call the 'for worse' part."

Hilary slammed the door and stomped into the living area of the hotel suite that she and Jeff had been sharing for the past six months. "I don't understand this!" She angrily yelled to the walls, or the couch; anything that would care to listen. "I am a Tony Award winning actress for Pete's sake, why can't I get a decent bloody role!"

She could hear the shower running and briefly entertained the thought of joining Jeff in it, until she remembered they weren't on speaking terms. Again. She dropped onto the couch, and noticed a small wrapped box sitting on the coffee table. The tag revealed that it was for her.

Curious, she opened the box and saw that it contained a delicate gold signet ring. The letter on it was an 'S'. Judging by the initial on the ring, Hilary knew it had something to do with their relationship, or the lack thereof. She unfolded the paper that was tucked into the lid of the small ring case and read:

"Darling, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've decided that we need to make a decision about our arrangement. Hilary, I love you. I've told you this many times, only to have it thrown back into my face during an argument. This is the last time I will tell you. I can't live with you and yet without you at the same time. I know how hard it is for you to express your feelings, so I'm making it easy.

She looked at the ring and tried to sort out the conflicting emotions. Was it fair of Jeff to put her in this position? How could she not wear the ring knowing that if she didn't Jeff would be gone and her trip back in time would be a failure? She tried to ignore everything tearing at her mind.

"I take it the audition didn't go well?" Jeff asked softly, having quietly walked into the room. He'd seen her looking at the ring and didn't want to push her by saying anything about it.

She started slightly as he spoke. "Do they ever?" she answered with bitter sarcasm. "Pumpkin, do you think I am a good actress?"

She noticed that he was dressed for an evening out. "Have a date tonight?" She asked with controlled annoyance.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Jeff answered her honestly. Then he looked at Hilary with a dare in his eyes, and a roguish lilt to his voice, "if my wife would like spend our anniversary with me."

He thought for a minute and shrugged, "I don't know, I'm sure we could find something that we can celebrate."

She hid the box and ring as best she could from Jeff on her way to the bedroom, avoiding any eye contact with him. Hilary put on her favorite dinner dress, the black and white one that she wore the first time she went out with Jeff. She looked at the ring and knew she had never really questioned the answer. What the hell, she shrugged to herself as she slipped the ring onto her right pinky finger. She noticed it fit perfectly and with an inner joy she grabbed a wrap and left the room.

The restaurant was crowded, but they were able to find an out of the way table. They enjoyed dinner and moved to the lounge after dessert to listen to the band.

They were dancing to ‘I'm Getting Sentimental Over You,’ when Jeff brought up the real reason for the date.

"Hilary, I know how you feel about Broadway and getting back onto a stage, but we really need some income." Jeff told her, "we simply can't live forever on shows here and there."

"Radio?" Hilary asked. She remembered Adam had told her that by the end of the year they'd be in Pittsburgh. "But, Jeffrey, no one will be able to see me act!"

"Hilary, think about it," Jeff continued excitedly, "If you can get an emotion or a point across with just your voice, isn't that really a mark of a good actor?"

Hilary actually had to stop and think about that for a moment. She was speechless.

The song ended and Jeff escorted Hilary back to their table. As they sat, Hilary spoke, "But are there any radio stations in New York hiring actors?"

"No," Jeff answered, "but a friend of mine who works at WENN in Pittsburgh said they might be interested in a lead couple."

Jeff knew this would be her reaction and grinned. He gently took her hands in his, looked her straight in the eye and said, "I know it's not New York, or Broadway, darling, but think of all the challenges."

Hilary pulled her hands away from his and considered the offer. After a few moments she realized the practicality of the plan and responded. "All right," she pointed to him, "but, I want to keep a return to the stage in mind."

Jeff smiled widely and kissed her, "Thank you Hilary, I'll go give Mackie a call and tell him we'll be there in about a week." He left the table and rushed to the lobby to make his call.

Hilary chuckled as he dashed away. She laid her chin on her hand and wondered exactly why she couldn't stay mad at him.

Later that night, while Jeff slept, Hilary snuck out to the balcony and called her brother.

"Adam, I just wanted to let you know that we are leaving New York soon to go to Pittsburgh. Jeffrey was able to get us auditions at WENN."

"We won't be one hundred percent sure until you get to WENN and see how things progress there," Adam told her, "but so far, so good."

They successfully auditioned for the jobs at WENN, which was no surprise to Hilary. In addition to starting full time work at the radio station, they also decided to buy a house. As Hilary explained to Jeff she was darned tired of living in hotels. She wanted something that would give them enough room to avoid each other when the need arose, as it almost always did.

Their first day of work went well, Jeff introduced Hilary to Mackie, and told her the story of being on tour in Twelfth night together. Even through the difficulties of lives on the road they had managed to keep in touch.

The first time she stepped into the green room, Hilary felt an eerie sense. This is where I'll . . . uh, Hilary will die, she thought as she tried to squelch the thought and poured herself a cup of coffee. She jumped as someone rushed into the room.

He interrupted and took her hand, pulling her from the room, "Excuse me, Miss Booth, but I need you on the air." He pulled her out of the green room. "Our other actress just took violently ill, and we can't have that on the radio. Makes the listeners sick as well." He smiled and pushed her into the studio.

She shared a script with Jeff and they salvaged the rest of the performance. On her way out she whispered to Jeff she wanted to take an early lunch while he was on the air.

She closed the door to the WENN studio and found an un-rented office on another floor. Hilary contacted Adam and told him who she had met so far that day. They had made the arrangement so Adam could compare the personnel at the station with the archival information they had about the correct timeline.

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Ok, I need to be back on the air in fifteen minutes so let me give you this list now. The people at the station are, "Gertrude Reece, receptionist; Mackie Bloom, a character actor and a friend of Jeffrey's; Mr. Gianetti; the head writer and a drunk if I ever saw one." She laughed and continued, "Eugenia Bremer; the organist and a lovely woman, Mr. Foley; the sound effects man, Elena Carpenter; actress and snob who isn't going to get her claws into my husband no matter how hard she thinks she can try--"

"Sorry. The station manager's name is Victor Comstock. A nice fellow. A little pushy though." Hilary finished.

She could hear him shuffling through some papers. She repeated, "Victor Comstock. He's the station manager."

"Dad!" She heard Adam yell. She could hear the murmurings of a conversation between her brother and father, snippets of which were beginning to worry her.

Her father finally turned his attention back to her, "Bunny, is there not a Scott Sherwood there?"

"Well according to our research, a man by the name of Scott Sherwood is supposed to be in charge there. We have no idea who this Victor Comstock is."

"Oh, wonderful." Hilary sank against the wall she was standing in front of. "Has something else changed? Am I changing the wrong thing? Did I -do- something wrong?"

"We don't know, Bun." Her father answered honestly. "You keep doing what you're doing and we'll try to figure out what's happening."

"Okay." she looked at her watch, "I need to be on the air guys. I'll talk to you later about this."

Later turned into years as Hilary found herself enjoying living in the past. She had to act surprised when Vivien Leigh was cast in "Gone With the Wind," and pretend she hadn't seen "The Wizard of Oz" a million times, but these were minor challenges to her acting abilities. She also truly enjoyed watching the audiences see "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" for the first time.

The staff at WENN changed as frequently as in any other workplace. Elena was contacted by an old boyfriend who promised her a career in New York on the radio. She left Pittsburgh as soon as possible and Hilary took her place as the pre-eminent actress at WENN.

Betty Roberts took over as head writer, replacing Mr. Gianetti who'd finally drunk himself into enough of a stupor that he was hospitalized. Much to Hilary's dismay, Jeffrey had befriended a blond named Celia Mellon and had pulled strings to get her an audition and ultimately a job.

Hilary found herself being threatened by Celia's bubbly self-promotion. She had never been this wary of a woman around Jeff before. He seemed to notice this and enjoyed teasing Hilary about her jealousy.

Adam still had not found any evidence of a future from the timeline that seemed to be creating itself. Both he and Hilary were worried about the opportunities they may have missed that could've changed the timeline. Hilary knew that as 1941 grew nearer her time was, ironically, running out.

They began to relax when Victor was called away to London to broadcast from the BBC, and his replacement was the Scott Sherwood that they had expected to be there in 1936. When Victor called to request that Jeff join him in London it was as if an air raid siren blared in the night. Hilary and Adam were once again alert to any enemy activity. Hilary was especially worried about Jeff because she knew the Blitz would soon signal the start of the war on British soil.

She tried her best to talk Jeff into staying in Pittsburgh, safe from harm. His eagerness and ideals were no match for her though, they won out; in her mind, over his common sense. Hilary endlessly took her frustrations out on her brothers, sometimes screaming, sometimes crying out her worry over the communicator.

Then it happened. They were broadcasting a show for the World's Fair when Scott burst into the studio and pulled Mr. Foley out. Within seconds Hilary heard Jeff's voice over the speaker. There were bombs falling in the background.

They finished their program in awed silence, afraid to confront the reality of the situation. In the green room, they gathered together to listen to the broadcast. Hilary could hear the fear in Jeff's voice and wanted so much to be there with him. To hold him. To make sure he was all right.

Hilary sat motionless for a few seconds. She could feel Betty's hand on her shoulder. Adam. She needed to talk to Adam. Hilary rushed out of the green room and into the writer's room. She locked the door and called her brother.

"The Blitz, dammit," Hilary frustratedly snapped, "Adam, the building he and Victor were broadcasting from; was it hit by a bomb?"

The Blitz. The words woke Adam up faster than Hilary's tone of voice. She heard him rushing to the office he'd set up at home to keep in touch with her.

After nearly ten minutes of Hilary frantically bugging him for details, Adam finally said "Sis, this timeline is apparently writing itself as it's going. It's new to us, I can't find records of it anywhere. We don't know what started it or why it's there."

"I don't care about that! I care about Jeff," She stopped, realizing what she'd just said. "Oh my God Adam. I'm in love with him."

"Damn you, I don't need that speech right now!" She snapped, "I need to know that Jeffrey is all right."

"Yes it was hit," he answered honestly. "I really can't tell you if anyone survived. This is a completely new timeline developing and we can't predict it."

Hilary sat at Betty's desk and tried to stop the worried tears from falling. Suddenly she felt like she was losing Ryan Jr all over again. She pushed the loneliness away as best she could, trying not to remind herself of all the people she was separated from. RJ, her family, and now Jeffrey. She had no one to turn to and she knew she couldn't confide in anyone if she did. "Okay," she sadly told her brother and put the communicator away.

Pulling herself together, and holding her head up as only Hilary Booth could, she walked out of her solitude and back into the green room. The crowd of people she had expected to see was instead only Betty and Scott. The rest of the WENN staff had decided to hold vigils in their own homes.

"Has there been any news?," she tentatively asked. Feeling a little comfort with the company of others, she sat with them at the table.

Betty silently shook her head no. It was obvious to Hilary that she was in shock. Not everyone had seen it, but Hilary noticed how close the young writer and Victor had grown. Hilary wanted to console the distraught woman, but growing up in a house full of boys, she had never really been comfortable in the sympathetic woman stereotype. She placed a hand on Betty's arm as an attempt at solace.

Hilary looked at Scott, a man whom she disliked immediately and halfheartedly smiled. "No," she answered honestly. "Thank you for being concerned, but I need to be at home now." She stood and wrapped her shawl around her, "I'll call if I hear anything, and I would like for you to do the same." She laid a hand on Betty's shoulder and squeezed, offering what offering what empathy she could give.

She had not let herself become close to any of the people at WENN, and she liked it that way. She had learned early on in her time traveling experiences that when she had no friends to tear herself away from, it was easier to leave. In the moment she heard the connection being cut from London she realized she cared about the people at the station. No matter how closely guarded she was with these people, somehow they had become a family to her. More importantly she stopped denying how she felt about Jeff. She admitted to herself, finally, that she loved him, she had for years.

Hilary thought about the whole evening during the cab ride home. It was impossible to think of anything else. She dreaded walking into the empty house, she had had to confront silences where there had once been laughter too many times before.

She forced herself to put the key in the lock and let herself into the house, leaning against the door and closing her eyes as she shut it behind her. She heard a voice from the living room calling her name.

Hilary jumped at the unexpected sound but was immediately relieved when she saw Justin. She ran into his arms and sobbed, he could do nothing but hold her, knowing that that was what she needed.

"Justy, what am I going to do?" She cried, "I love him. I don't want to lose him now. I can't lose him now. What if he needs to be in the green room when things happen and his not being there results in my death." She babbled, "Twinbro, I'm scared. I'm scared for me, but right now, I'm scared for Jeffrey."

"Sissy, we have to wait." He said quietly, "I'll be here and wait with you. You won't be alone."

"Justin, he's so much like a little boy at times. I feel like I'm losing my baby all over again." She sniffed, "I can't go through that again."

Justin tried to soothe her as best he could. He walked her upstairs and helped her into her gown. He laid on the bed and gathered her into his arms. "Now you stay here and cry it out. I'm not going anywhere, twinsis, I'm not going anywhere."

She soon cried herself to sleep, and Justin held her in his protective embrace and watched over her. "Adam is a fool." he whispered, "he should have known after spending all this time with Singer that you'd fall in love with him. Don't you worry, baby. I'll rip him a brand new one for you." He dropped a brotherly kiss on her forehead and soon let himself drift off.

There was no news for two days. In those two days, Hilary was a nervous wreck and cried at the drop of a hat. Justin stayed with her as he had promised, hiding upstairs on the occasional visits Scott Sherwood made to the house to check on Hilary. Finally a telegram arrived from the BBC stating that they were sending their condolences for Victor and their well wishes for Jeff. It was the first they'd heard of anything.

Not even Gertie knew exactly what the telegram meant. Scott saw Betty's distress, and silently vowed to get any clarification he could for her. He made a few very well placed phone calls and within hours he had the answer. Balancing the bad news of Victor's death with the relatively good news of Jeff's serious, but survivable, injuries was difficult for everyone at the station.

Hilary was relieved. She ran down to the pay phone outside of the Buttery to call Justin and give him the news. She insisted she was all right and he could go back home to Benji.

When Hilary returned to the studio she saw Betty carrying some scripts into the green room. Seeing her so lost and devastated was difficult for Hilary. She wished she knew of some way to comfort the woman, but she felt so guilty, she just couldn't find the way to break through the silent barrier.

Jeff's homecoming was bittersweet at best. Hilary couldn't get any information from the military concerning when he would be arriving. Gertie volunteered to tell Hilary as soon as she heard anything. Knowing that Gertie would most likely indeed be the first to know, Hilary had to trust her to tell her immediately. Gertie did not disappoint and pulled Hilary off the air as soon as she got the phone call from the Colonel at the airport.

Hilary was overjoyed and ran downstairs to meet Jeff in the first floor lobby. She wanted their reunion to be free from the sadness that pervaded upstairs. And she wanted privacy.

The moment she saw him pulling himself out of the car, her knees went weak. It was hard seeing him so broken and injured. He was very subdued; certainly not the boisterously zealous man she was familiar with. She felt her heart do a flip-flop when he caught her eye. He smiled widely and Hilary knew that yes, he was still the same.

She held the door open for him as he limped into the building favoring his right leg. Once he was in and out of the way of traffic, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, for fear he'd vanish.

After a few moments of silent embracing, Hilary pulled back slightly. She lightly caressed Jeff's face and smiled, "Pumpkin, I realized something. When that broadcast was . . ." she bowed her head and said quieter, "when the bomb hit."

Jeff hooked a finger beneath her chin and raised her face to meet his. With a soft smile, he leaned and kissed her. "Darling," he spoke against her lips, "I love you."

She sank further into his arms and lay her head against his shoulder. "Jeffrey, I love you too."

He pulled away, wiped the tears from Hilary's eyes and told her, "Why don't we go upstairs. I'd like to see everyone."

The next few weeks were hard as Jeff's body healed, but his nightmares didn't. Hilary sat with him, eased him out of frightening dreams, which he never recalled, and assured him that he was safe. He would calm and sometimes snuggle closer into the safety of her embrace.

He never told Hilary, because he didn't want to create any more pain in her life, but sometimes he did recall the nightmares in the morning. The memory of her comforting caress in the night made the whole situation easier to bear.

The days were filled with a new appreciation for each other and many declarations of love. As happy as they were together, Hilary felt twinges of guilt. She knew that if all went well she would be leaving for good sometime in the next two years. She dreaded the thought of leaving him, of breaking his heart. Of breaking her own. But she swallowed the guilt and chose to enjoy the time she had left with Jeff.

Jeff surprised Hilary with a second marriage proposal which she giddily accepted. They eloped again to Mexico and returned to Pittsburgh secure in the knowledge that although they still had moments of strife, their relationship was richer because they no longer hid their feelings.

WENN went through changes as well; Celia Mellon stayed in the bright lights and orange groves of Hollywood. She was replaced by a burlesque dancer named Maple LaMarsh. Hilary had liked the woman immediately, but knew that with her reputation, Hilary Booth would have reservations. So she kept her distance, until Maple gave her the push to go up against Dusty Foxx.

As much as she wanted her time with Jeff to last, the weeks flew by quickly. And for the first time since the death of her son, Hilary was actually looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. She had even surprised Jeff by announcing she wanted a live Christmas tree.

Selecting the tree and getting it home provided Jeff and Hilary with a lot of fun. The taxi driver had been slightly annoyed with having to tie a tree to the top of his vehicle, but he soon was laughing along with Hilary and Jeff at the misadventures of actually getting the tree to their front yard.

Once they had the tree decorated, they settled on the floor in front of the fireplace sipping toddy. A small fire gently blazed providing the only light in the room. Gloria Redman's song, ~Christmas Is Waiting~ played softly in the background.

"Mittens," Jeff asked, gesturing to the single green stocking decorated with a truck that hung off the mantle. She'd displayed it without fail every year that he'd known her. He hadn't asked her about it, as they had never been this close and it seemed too personal.

She answered, knowing his question before he'd asked, "It belonged to a little boy who all too briefly touched my life."

Jeff held her closer, "he must have been important to you." He'd never thought her to be the sentimental type, but then, she was continually surprising him.

Her admission stunned Jeff and he involuntarily pulled away from her. "Hilary, I didn't know you have a child," he said softly.

Hilary avoided Jeff's eyes and took another sip from her drink. She was silent. She feared she'd said too much, but knew she couldn't turn back now. "I don't. Not anymore at least. Ryan was my only child." She closed her eyes to the familiar ache and tried to push it away. "He fell out of a boat and drowned when he was nine."

"I never thought I could enjoy a Christmas again." Hilary turned to Jeff. She drifted her fingers lightly over his cheek, "Thank you."

Hilary's unexpected excitement of the holiday season carried over into the hallways of WENN as well. She even enjoyed Betty's decorating every corner and crevice at the station with boughs of holly and evergreen. Kris Kringle and his cohorts started to appear in the programs and Christmas carols were randomly heard being whistled.

The excitement at the station grew to be almost uncontrollable as Betty had heard through the confusing grapevine of Mr. Eldridge that Gloria Redmond would be making a special appearance. Hilary had seen her in the lobby and was thrilled. Gloria Redmond had been one of her inspirations in show business.

Hilary signed a few autographs and rushed upstairs to tell everyone that Gloria had arrived.

Her excitement soon turned to an ominous fear when Gloria's visit was followed by Rollie Pruitt. She'd quickly found a private place and called her father. He told her to stay on her toes and keep her guard up. His arrival this early had been a surprise.

Hilary's distrust of the man kept her as far from him as possible. She hoped that Gloria wasn't involved and knew nothing of Mr. Pruitt's extracurricular political views.

Thankfully, Pruitt's visit had been short. He'd nearly shut down the station, but luckily for them, Gloria had taken a shine to WENN. It turned out to be a sentimental visit for her as she'd learned that her husband had bought the station just before he was killed in a plane wreck. It had been his final Christmas gift and one that she'd learned to cherish.

Hilary searched out Gloria as Mr. Eldridge was reading the final lines to "The Night Before Christmas," to ask her if she would honor Jeff and herself by sharing their Christmas dinner. Gloria gratefully accepted since she no longer wanted to continue her previous plan of ignoring the holiday. She was relieved to have a place to go, because she suddenly feared being alone.

Dinner itself was a great success. Jeff had prepared an excellent turkey and Hilary actually baked a decent pumpkin pie. The conversation consisted of sparkling anecdotes about Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin; all of whom Gloria had worked with during her career. Hilary had to keep pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

After the meal, Hilary finally had the chance she had been eagerly awaiting; to talk with Gloria alone. She packed Jeff off into the kitchen to do the dishes, making sure he was wearing the new green apron she had given him for Christmas. She and Gloria sat in the dining room, with the fire casting a warm glow on the Christmas tree. Hilary wasn't sure how to broach the topic, she started with some small talk about the trials of a Broadway star, knowing that she and Gloria would have had some similar experiences.

The conversation finally did turn to the difficult side of being in show business and not being able to celebrate holidays at all. They agreed that sometimes it was actually preferable to work on holidays as it masked the pain of being alone. Hilary told Gloria how much "Christmas is Waiting" meant to her when she suffered a great loss in her life.

Gloria was flattered that her song had provided comfort to another hurting soul and thanked Hilary for her words. Neither woman knew what to say at that point so they were relieved when Jeff bounded into the room to announce that the dishes were just going to have to wait until later to be completely finished. He announced that since he had two beautiful woman in the house, he certainly wasn't going to be wasting his time getting dishpan hands. Hilary smirked at him, Gloria laughed and all the tension in the room faded as Jeff put Glenn Miller's recording of Jingle Bells on and pulled Gloria off the settee to dance.

The three of them played cards and laughed throughout the evening. Gloria thanked Jeff and Hilary for sharing their Christmas with her and invited them to her house in the country. She promised to return to Pittsburgh as soon as possible to strengthen the friendships she had made.

Not long after the New Year, munitions plants and some steel factories began to have mysterious incidents. There was no discernable pattern, and there were fortunately few injuries. When the first plant was bombed, Hilary could see events were quickly heading to the end of her time at WENN.

Needing to speak with her father, or brother, about these events; Hilary slipped off to the still empty office she had been using. She pulled the gold compact communicator from her purse and called home, hoping it would be her father who answered.

"Hi Bunny, how is everything?" Thomas Winslow answered with a grin in his voice.

"Pitts-Penn Munitions plant was destroyed this morning. The paper said it was an explosion caused by an 'equipment malfunction'." Hilary knew this was just a cover-up by the plant to keep the population from panicking, and expressed her own fears to her father. "Dad, it's starting."

Thomas took a deep breath as the full weight of the moment sank in. "Let me check my notes Bunny and compare events." She could hear him moving papers and cursing when something fell. She smiled, as she clearly pictured the annoyance in his face.

After what seemed to be an interminable length of time to Hilary, her father finally spoke. "Yes, that's the first one to go. In a couple of weeks West Pennsylvania Munitions Plant will be destroyed."

"So this is going according to the timeline right? What's the new timeline doing?" Hilary questioned.

"That seems to be running parallel with this correct one. At the moment we aren't sure exactly which -is- the correct one. This new one seems to also be on the correct path." Tom explained, "Though we have no way of knowing if it will veer off again."

"Okay. I should be getting back. Love you, Dad." Hilary closed the compact and walked back to the station.

Adam walked over to his father and noted the worried look on his face. "You are going to be able to get her out of there, aren't you?"

Hilary went back to her daily dramas at WENN unaware how insecure her father was about her future. She even managed to accept Scott's latest brainstorm for WENN without even throwing a script at him. He had seen Jeff and Hilary perform a mind reading act at a charity function and decided it would make excellent, and cost-efficient, radio. They had agreed and soon the first episode was performed.

Hilary was secretly amused that the 'twins' code she had worked out with Justin when they were kids was now the basis of "Magic Time." They reveled in having their own special language, and it was really quite elaborate. They even sprinkled it with phrases and meanings that kids come up with to over-dramatize things. The code for 'danger' meant that a parent was near. Hilary smiled inwardly at the recollection and sighed, she missed her family but now was not the time to think about them.

Her thoughts belonged with Jeff. She had taught him the code during an insufferable road tour that was more train ride than performance. They continually practiced it and used it as their own private language. There was nothing they couldn't communicate between the lines.

They had no idea how necessary it would become during the first broadcast of "Magic Time." Although the show itself went well, Hilary had an odd prediction that terrified her. "Someone here tonight will pass between the doorway of life and death."

She didn't know what had sparked the thought, but it spooked her enough that she risked calling her father from the studio to put her mind at ease. He told her he saw no reason to worry. She heard someone walking into the green room and quickly put her 'compact' away.

Hilary turned away from the corner to see that Kurt Holstrom had walked in. He gave her a smile, walked over to the coffee pot near Hilary and poured himself a cup. He held the pot up to ask her if she would like one as well and she shook her head no. He complimented her on the show and Hilary nodded acknowledgement.

Hilary was not in a mood to humor a sponsor so she walked over to the magazine rack and placed her purse on the couch. She noticed that Holstrom put the coffee cup on the table and followed her. Suddenly sensing that something was not quite right, she was relieved when Scott burst into the green room a couple of seconds later looking for Holstrom.

Scott confronted Holstrom with the news that secret codes were going out at the end of the Amazon Andy program. For once in her life Hilary found herself interested in something Sherwood had to say. Betty came into the green room and was shocked by Scott's discovery.

Hilary absorbed every detail of the conversation wondering if this would turn out to be something to report to her father, when she realized she was in the green room discussing secret codes. This is it! rang through her mind seconds before Holstrom grabbed her arm and aimed a gun at her side.

Her mind continued to race; this wasn't right. Rollie Pruitt was supposed to be here, Jeffrey was supposed to be here. She turned a pleading glance toward Scott, who gave her a helpless look in return.

Scott tried to reason with Holstrom, but the man was formulating another plan. He sat them down to wait until the end of the Amazon Andy show and informed them of their fate.

Hilary's mind raced with possibilities. The moment was at hand and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't want history to repeat itself and wind up dead on the green room floor, nor did she want to inadvertently cause the deaths of Scott or Betty. Holstrom could die a million deaths as far as Hilary was concerned.

Jeff walked into the green room looking for a script. Hilary had never been so glad to see him in her life; she had to stop herself from leaping into his arms. She thought quickly and began to talk to Jeff in their secret code. He was just about to leave when she gave him the code for 'danger'. Jeff slowly turned toward Hilary and she subtly motioned to Holstrom.

Jeff had received her message and tried to quiet Hilary's fear by telling her he was going to call the police. He left the room and soon after that Mr. Foley came in, carrying a gong. Hilary was a little confused by the gong but Scott used it as a shield and was able to disarm Holstrom. After the police arrived and arrested Holstrom, Hilary found a quiet moment to melt into Jeff's arms and stay there until she stopped shaking. She knew they would have to go down to the police station for questioning at some point, but right now she wanted to hide in the sanctuary of Jeff's embrace.

Much later that night, after being quizzed repeatedly by the police, Hilary and Jeff went back to WENN. Since they would have to be back on the air in a couple of hours anyway they decided not to go home, but to try and catch a quick bit of shut-eye in the green room.

Their plans for sleep at the studio didn't happen as the Agitato Alert was airing when they returned. Mr. Medwick was there with a guest for the radio program. A Mr. Cutter Dunlap, who inexplicably was wearing stockings and rambling aimlessly about seeing Victor Comstock.

Jeff volunteered to take Mr. Dunlap back to his hotel and see that he got the rest he so obviously needed.

Hilary took advantage of Jeff's absence and decided to go home anyway. She wanted to change clothes and, more importantly, tell her father what had happened.

Her father let her in on a surprising event. Victor Comstock had visited the station, alive and well, and had told Betty that he was working in Berlin as Jonathan Arnold. He also told her that he wasn't sure whether Mr. Comstock was working for the American government as he claimed; or whether he was working for the Nazi regime.

One detail that Tom did not tell his daughter was that Jeff was working as Mr. Comstock's contact. He didn't want to alarm her unnecessarily. From all he'd heard of Jeff Singer, he didn't seem to be the type to go against his own country. Tom wanted to do that research on his own. He just hoped that this new development didn't mean that whoever had made the timeline change before, had done something else that he'd missed.

Nearly four months later, the expected happened. Rollie Pruitt usurped Scott Sherwood as the manager of WENN. Hilary informed her father and they began to prepare for her removal from the past.

Hilary remembered that Adam told her Miss Booth had been killed in 1941. Having realized that the events in the green room with Mr. Holstrom were not what she had been sent back to change, she grew more tense each day. She spent as much time as she could around Jeff knowing that her time with him was becoming preciously limited, one way or another. His presence alone comforted her in ways he wasn't even aware of. When he told her of his abrupt decision to return to London, Hilary panicked. It was too close to the time she might need him and she didn't want him to be overseas when she could be in deadly danger at any moment.

She tried everything she could think of to keep him with her including chaining him to the station. She had found a pair of handcuffs hidden in his sock drawer and decided to use them to her advantage. She briefly wondered what they were doing there and decided to ask him at a more private time. Could make for an interesting evening, she thought as she slipped them into his suitcase to sneak into the station.

The cuffs managed to strand only Hilary and she was left at the table in the green room as Jeff caught his cab to the airport. Her failure to keep him near unsettled her even more as she studied the other timeline and the changes it was making. She spent many evenings talking with her father and she found his voice to be very comforting. They were still unsure of the other travelers; who they were, and why they were trying to change things.

Jeff had assured her he would only be gone for three weeks. He tried to phone her from London but each call was either not completed or disconnected, or interrupted. With each missed call Hilary grew more and more frustrated. The situation was making her nearly impossible to work with and Scott took it upon himself to act as a 'lightning rod' for her anger. As long as she had him to complain about and dissipate her anger on, it kept her mind off Jeffrey.

After a particularly frustrating morning Hilary was visited by a woman claiming to be a Mrs. Singer. Hilary felt her world begin to spin and her stomach starting to flip. She told Hilary she had married Jeff in London. Hilary wanted to deny the woman's evidence and her mind desperately tried to convince her that this was another one of Mackie's practical jokes, a more cruel one than usual; but still a joke. She found him in the hallway and when she saw that he honestly did not know what she was talking about, Hilary had to force herself into admitting the truth. She put on her best diva air and returned to the green room to confront the vixen.

The supposed new Mrs. Singer was standing near the table with a very smug grin on her face. "So," Hilary started as she walked almost predator-like to the opposite side of the table, "You say that Jeffrey married you in London."

The woman, who had given her name as Pavla Nemkova, raised an eyebrow, "I will say a lot of things, if you would care to listen, Hilary Winslow-Morgan."

Hilary felt her heart skip a beat. She tightened her grip on the back of the chair, hoping Miss Nemkova hadn't noticed her reaction.

She had. She crossed her arms and smiled, "Yes, I know who you are. I too am a traveler." Knowing she now had the upper hand, Pavla started to non-chanlantly toy with her marriage license as she went in for the final blow. "It would behoove you to listen carefully, Miss Winslow. Jeffrey married me. He will not be here on that fateful day--in--oh, about a month."

"I will tell you all you need to know at this moment. Your family alone does not hold the secrets to time. My family has worked to restore Germany to its rightful place as the world superpower it once was. America should never have been involved in the war, and certainly should not have won. My family will bring honor and glory to the Third Reich."

"That will never happen!" Hilary snapped, "we will see that you are stopped and history remains correct."

"Oh, but how can you be sure of that?" Pavla asked. "Things are changing and forming into something new, something rather deadly for you. It seems, with my marriage to our dear beloved Jeffrey, that I have won this war." Pavla re-crossed her arms, "and a very handsome bonus."

"That's impossible," Hilary stammered as she sank into the nearest chair, still trying to deny the obvious, "he couldn't have married you."

The woman laughed coldly. She walked around to Hilary and bent closely to her, "love? Is that all you can think about? Well, Hilary--Booth is it? I'm sorry, MISS Booth, but Jeffrey seems to have switched sides in the loyalty game." She pulled her trump card out of her purse and with a smirk handed it to Hilary. "Why just a few nights ago, Jeffrey was professing his love, among other things, to me."

Pavla's smug voice tortured Hilary into reading the note. It was definitely written in Jeff's handwriting. 'I hope we can remain caring and loving friends...' She stared at the words in disbelief. That two timing worm had not only thrown her over for yesterday's garbage, but he'd bloody well double crossed her as well. Hilary tried to hate him, but even as she was struggling to hold herself together fragments of memories flew through her mind. For some reason Jeff having 'sliding distance' contests with Mr. Foley down the marble hallway made her smile wanly. Damn him she thought. She was not going to let Jeffrey; or the new Mrs. Singer intimidate her. She had lived through worse pain, and she would get through this as well.

Hilary assumed her most regal bearing as she made her way to Studio A. She wished Pavla 'much pain' and joined Scott and Mackie on the air. Being away from Pavla didn't deaden her pain at all, and Hilary found she couldn't fight it any longer. As soon as wedding bells played she collapsed into Scott's arms.

Mackie took her home and made sure she was all right. She assured him she was and sent him on his way. She had, of course, lied. She poured herself several drinks as she tried to understand. How could Jeffrey do that to her? What hold did Pavla have on him?

With the revelation that it had been Pavla making the subtle changes in the timeline, Hilary walked into her bathroom and drew herself a hot bath. The details of Victor Comstock being in Berlin and Jeffrey being in London were definitely to be discussed with her brother, but right now she just wanted to ignore his repeated calls, so she locked herself in the small room. She wanted the solitude to be able to concentrate on what was going on. Immersing herself in the warm water, she reflected on what had happened and tried to figure out a way to get herself out of the 40's alive.

Over the next few days she continually pushed her heartache into the back of her mind. She didn't want to hear another 'I told you so' from Adam, and the last thing she needed was to let her feelings get in the way of her survival.

She must have drifted off in bed late one night, because the knock on her bedroom door not only startled her awake, but scared the wits out of her.

She heard a voice through the door. "Sissy? It's me, Justin. We were worried about you, so Dad sent me to check on you."

"Cripes Justin! You scared the hell out of me," Hilary snapped as slid from the bed and wrapped herself into a large robe. She opened the door angrily, "Never, ever do that to me again!"

"Sorry babe, we were worried." He stood back, knowing better than to press her when she was this angry.

"I hate men sometimes, you know that Justin, I hate them!" She threw her hands up and stomped down the stairs, "and lucky me! I get blessed with a whole damned family of them!"

She turned abruptly, "Don't! Don't talk to me! I never . . . want to speak . . . to a man . . . AGAIN!"

He hated trying to get around her when she was in this mood, but he'd been told to get as much information about the other traveler as he could out of her. Briefly he wondered if his life insurance premiums were paid up. "Um--Hil," he began sheepishly, "would a gay man count?"

She turned and studied him for a couple of seconds as if he were a total stranger. She clenched her fists even more tightly, if possible, and let out a bloodcurdling yell. Hilary then took a breath, straightened her robe and calmly replied, "now, I will speak to you." She walked to the couch and sat down, "but make it brief."

Justin took the comment in stride and pressed on, "Hil, I mean as a traveler. Did she give any indication of who she was and more importantly, when she was from?"

Hilary stood and let her frustration win out, "No, Justin. She gave absolutely no indications other than she'd gotten her claws into my Jeffrey and that he wouldn't be there to get those codes." Hilary dropped back down onto the couch, "oh what's the use. We've lost. Why don't we just pack it in, go home and learn the goose step."

Justin pulled Hilary out of her wallowing, and off of the couch. He grabbed her by the shoulders and lost patience with her. "You know there is much more at stake here than your blasted love life! You have seen the pictures of Nazi atrocities and visited the remains of the horrors, you don't want that to spread world wide do you?" He shook her as she continued to glare at him, "Do you Hilary? Hilary, you will not give up! Think of all the freedoms you will lose, that I will lose. I am a gay man Hilary! You will lose a few freedoms and conveniences here and there. I would lose my club, I would lose my life. I would lose Benji."

Hilary twisted out of Justin's grasp and escaped to the dining room. "I know! I'm just so confused right now. Maybe I should be glad Jeff did what he did, at least is gives me a good reason to leave when I have to." Hilary leaned on one of the dining room chairs as a new thought occurred to her, "If I can leave at all. Maybe -I'M- the Hilary Booth that dies in the green room. Maybe I'm not supposed to leave here at all."

"Twinsis, don't say that." Justin knew that the anger had passed. He walked up behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders. "I know you better than that. You are Hilary Booth, of course, and you will think of a way to get those codes without getting yourself killed. I know you can, hon. You haven't memorized all those Shakespearean plots for nothing you know."

Hilary laughed slightly, "You know, right now I could use a good Shakespearean death scene, for Pavla." She growled in frustration and turned, "I really, really loved him Justin. How could I have been so stupid?"

Justin pulled her close to comfort her, "sweetheart, if it's any consolation, I know he loves you too. There has to be a good explanation for why he did this."

"Maybe," she admitted, "But right now, I'd much rather imagine killing him in gloriously painful ways."

Justin smiled, "I'm glad you are feeling a little better. And I think I will make my exit before you remember that all men are worthless."

Hilary tried to suppress a small laugh, but couldn't. She hugged Justin tightly as he called their father. She pulled away and Justin vanished before her eyes.

As the weeks progressed so did the odd occurrences at WENN. From the visit of Alan Ballinger to the ridiculous accusation that Eugenia of all people, was sending out Nazi codes.

Hilary's association with Alan started as two mentalists sharing secrets; and even though Hilary would never admit it to herself, it started from her rejection as well.

Adam didn't trust the man from the moment Hilary told him about Alan, and he warned Hilary to keep an eye on him. As things worked out in the end, Adam's brotherly advice was for once, actually good.

Hilary had ignored Adam's warnings. He suspected Ballinger of treasonous activity, but the reality was actually worse for Hilary. She finally realized that Ballinger preyed on women who had been recently hurt. He assaulted their emotions again, then left them to struggle to put their lives back together. Hilary berated herself continually after Alan's departure, and her opinion of men dropped off the scale. She was a highly educated and intelligent woman, and she couldn't believe she fell for his sham. But she had.

His only redeeming quality was that for some reason he did not betray Hilary as he had planned. He left WENN with the promise to see her again, but Hilary was once again guarded and knew his promise was as fake as his name.

Hilary forgot Ballinger and turned her attention to the mystery of why the sabotage at the plants hadn't stopped with the arrest of Kurt Holstrom. The implications were alarming. When a man named Desmond Quist arrived to confirm his suspicions of Nazi codes being sent out over the airwaves, Hilary thought she might get some answers herself.

As Quist tried innumerable plans; including practically taking WENN off the air, Hilary did some of her own espionage work. She recognized the opera Eugenia had been working on; it was one her mother taught to her at a young age. Hilary trusted her instinct that a gentle woman like Miss Bremer would never betray her own friends; let alone her country. Or maybe it was that Eugenia reminded Hilary of her own mother. She dismissed the notion of Eugenia being a Nazi sympathizer immediately.

Hilary was assisted in her search by Adam and their father. Even though they had resources unavailable to Quist, they too could not identify any codes being broadcast to enemy.

When Quist gave up, Hilary secretly continued. She surmised that if the codes were not in the programs, then they must be in the commercials. She secretly copied each ad, and read all of them to Adam. The Winslow men scoured every book on Nazi codes they could find, hoping that the information they sent to Hilary would break into some code. Hilary was listening to Seldon Sentry droning on again one afternoon when she realized there was something odd about his banking procedures. It was code; she came to that conclusion at the same time as one other person.

Scott's code breaking training made him suspicious during the broadcast of one of Sentry's ads. He took the recording of the commercial out of the building in order to crack the code without having to worry about being interrupted. He promised Betty he would be back before the beginning of "The Hands of Time," but Betty didn't believe him. After he left Hilary found a deserted spot and called her father to inform him of the discovery.

Hilary actually respected Scott's ability to take care of what she knew was going to happen regarding the codes. Now that Scott held the key to unraveling the Nazi subterfuge, she could concentrate on returning home. She tried not to think of Jeff at all, which she found to be almost impossible.

"The Hands of Time" began its broadcast and Hilary was starting to worry about Scott. He had of course been late many times previously, but this time she was actually concerned about him. Her mind conjured up many unpleasant fates for him; what if he had been followed by a conspirator and was now lying somewhere dead? What if he had been hit by a trolley? What if he got into a poker game and left Mackie and herself to improvise for the duration of the show?

Mackie was certainly resigned to this behavior, he had been through it often enough, but he didn't know that there was a reason he should have been concerned about Scott. Mackie did his usual to save the show, but he could not have expected the twist fate was about to throw at him.

Relieved when she heard the studio doors open behind her, Hilary made a sniping remark to Scott to upbraid him for chronic tardiness. She waited for his usual chipper, unconcerned reply and was rendered speechless when she heard the voice. It was not Scott who answered her. It was Jeffrey.

She turned, still in shock, hoping desperately that her ears had deceived her. Hilary faced Jeff and the lost look on his face was nearly her undoing. Her thoughts and emotions were in turmoil; this was the last thing she needed at this moment. She was adjusting to living without him, and had even figured out a way to get the codes and get out of there with her life.

Hilary forced herself back to the script in her hand, and tried to push Jeffrey Singer out of her mind. Instead his presence overtook her emotions and she was forced to leave the studio and get as far away from him as she could.

Hilary attempted to find refuge in Victor's office, but instead found Betty. She pulled herself together long enough to tell Betty that she would not be able to work with Jeff ever again. All thoughts of Scott and Nazi codes completely slipped her mind as she proudly walked past Jeff on her way out of the building. Jeff followed her, pleading with her to talk to him.

Adam sat in the solitude of his office and studied the piles of paper and computer files regarding the timeline that was progressing. He realized that everything they had worked for since Hilary went back in time would reach its climax that night. The urgency of the situation actually caused him to worry about Hilary and he tried to warn her. There was one slight problem. Hilary wasn't there. Despite his repeated attempts to contact her; Hilary could not be found.

Hilary lost herself in the streets of Pittsburgh looking for any escape from Jeff. She felt the sharp vibration of the communicator through her purse and stuck her tongue out at it. "Go away Adam, I have more important things to worry about now." she mumbled and ignored the call.

The night time sky combined with the darkness of her mind to drive her as far away from WENN as she could get. The buzzing continued. Hilary didn't know if she had finally lost Jeff, or if he was staying close enough to her to keep an eye on her, but not daring to come closer; yet.

The buzzing became more insistent. Hilary was starting to wonder if she was losing her mind. She stopped abruptly to let the frustration work it's way through her body; she didn't want to deal with Adam, Nazi codes, or Jeff. Right now all she wanted was to go home.

She had to step aside to avoid being run over by Jeff as he had realized too late that she had stopped. "Will you please leave me alone!" She snapped angrily.

"No, 'but' nothing!" She emphatically stated, "I want you as far out of my life as you apparently decided you wanted me!" She shoved past him, "Now get OUT of my way!" She stormed away, hoping he wouldn't follow.

Hilary was halfway back to the station when she heard Adam abandon trying to contact her by buzzing her. He decided to yell her name instead. She was thankful the cloth and contents of her purse insulated his voice so that no one else could hear it.

She opened the door to WENN and entered the foyer with Jeff on her heels. After exchanging angrier words with him, she remembered she had a wrap that would make a good excuse to get Jeff away from her. She asked him to get it for her and hoped he would be gone long enough for her to stop Adam from ranting in her purse.

Intending to use the green room to talk, she walked in and unfortunately found it occupied. Damn Putting her acting skills to use she asked Betty if she had seen her wrap. Getting a negative answer from Betty she turned to leave the room and nearly walked into Victor Comstock. Her anger at Jeff and at Adam blinded her from realizing that he wasn't supposed to be there. She excused herself, and stormed out of the room.

Of course this being WENN, finding a quiet corner proved to be impossible. As she was caught up in the events of the day, Hilary never had a chance to contact her brother. Several arguments and a water dowsing later, it dawned on Hilary that Pruitt had also been in the green room. She vaguely remembered that he'd been tied and looked as though he had been shot. She missed it! Victor Comstock had been there instead! She rambled blankly about Victor being alive and that he wasn't supposed to be there. Her mind finally gave in to the swirling hysteria running through it, and she slid down Jeff's body in a dead faint.

Hilary slowly returned to consciousness. Nothing made sense. Through her still dazed eyes she saw Jeff. He was explaining that he was Victor's contact and that he'd kept the secret of Victor's faked death. Hilary did her best to comprehend what he was saying, but was still bothered by something. Jeff pleaded with Hilary to believe him when he told her why he had married Pavla. His excuse was that Pavla had found out that Victor was alive and that she had blackmailed Jeff with that information.

Hilary listened, stunned, at this turn of events. She couldn't justify the current situation with what she knew from the original timeline. Instead of being in the green room with Jeff and Pruitt fighting over the codes; it had instead been Victor, Scott, Betty and Pruitt. The only conclusion Hilary could arrive at was that this outcome had been due to the new timeline that Adam and her father were following.

When the evening was finally over, Hilary snuck out of the station and took a taxi home. She still had not been able to answer the incessant calls from Adam; and she hoped the communicator had been buried deeply enough in her purse that no one else heard it. The ride home wasn't as peaceful as Hilary thought it would be. The silence of the ride only served as a reminder of how much fun she and Jeff used to have on their way to and from work. She held back the tears as she realized she missed Jeff; and she was annoyed with herself for missing him in the first place.

Finally, Hilary arrived home. She quickly paid the cab driver and unlocked the door. The emptiness of the ride home was even more profound as she entered the house. She slammed the door and threw her purse and still damp wrap on the couch. She grabbed a throw pillow and repeatedly bashed it against the banister, trying desperately to work out her anger and frustration. Adam was forgotten, completely.

Jeff's voice startled her and she turned. She threw the pillow at him with all her might, "It should be your head!" she said through angry tears.

"I'm sorry, Hilary. I honestly thought you were given the right letter," he said softly as he cautiously stepped toward her.

Hilary kept her distance from Jeff. She moved closer to the wall next to the stairs. "I can't believe you fell for her line! Didn't you *think* that she might not be who she said she ... was?" Hilary almost swallowed the last word as she realized the irony of the situation. Suddenly feeling extremely guilty for lying to him, she turned and ran up the stairs.

"Out!" she screamed as she heard Jeff follow her up the stairs. At the bedroom door she paused and turned back to Jeff who had appeared at the top stop. "Please Jeff, don't pressure me." She reluctantly pulled herself away from his pleading eyes and disappeared into the bedroom, locking the door behind her.

Dejected, but finally understanding why Hilary felt so betrayed, Jeff left. It took every ounce of strength in him, but he knew he was the last person Hilary wanted to see at the moment.

Solitude overtook the house and Hilary went back downstairs to make sure Jeff was gone. She knew she could no longer put off contacting her brother. She picked up her purse and bedraggled wrap and went back upstairs. Finally back in the comfort of her bedroom she contacted her family.

"Hilary, where the hell have you been?" her father's stressed voice answered. "We've been worried sick, I was nearly ready to send your brother to see what's happened to you."

Hilary quietly broke into her father's speech, "everything's fine dad. Your precious codes didn't fall into the wrong hands. Pruitt was arrested, and that will likely cause the rest of his gang to be arrested as well." She hoped her bitterness did not carry through her words, but she couldn't hold back an ironic laugh, "the way this new timeline played out, I didn't need to be here at all. I wasn't even in the building when it happened. I was trying to avoid Jeffrey."

Lost between two eras and feeling useless, Hilary tried to sort out the emotions that were surfacing faster that she could understand them. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. She sought comfort in her father's voice, "daddy, do I still need to be here? Can't I just come home and avoid..." She hesitated as she fought acknowledging what she was trying to deny, "the fact that I'm going to miss these people." She held back the sob from her voice as she told her father.

"Bunny," Thomas answered, knowing the pet name would console her. "We can let you stay, if you want. We do still need to find this Pavla and who she is working for."

Hilary laughed ironically again, "well, Jeff may be able to help us there. He is still married to that overdeveloped harlot." She fought to keep the emotion out of her voice, but was afraid the strain of the day was beating even her acting skills. "He wants us to work things out, but she has disappeared and we can't even begin to untangle that web until he finds her; or at least until she decides to make another unscheduled appearance in our lives."

Thomas did sense the exhaustion in his only daughter's voice and tenderly asked, "what do you want, Bunny?"

"Me?" It dawned on Hilary at that moment that she had never been asked what she wanted. She hadn't even asked herself. "I--right now, I want a hot bath...and sleep." She was surprised at her simple answer, and smiled at the thought of those comforts.

"Then you get it sweetheart," Tom replied. "Tomorrow we can discuss what to do next."

"OK daddy, thanks." Hilary started to sever the connection, but stopped, "I love you, daddy," she whispered, like a little girl being tucked into bed.

"Love you too, Bun. Now go on and get your bath and get a good night's sleep. I'll talk to you soon."

She heard the connection end and set the compact on the night table next to her bed. With a confused heart she ran the bath water and settled into the warmth to try and sort out her feelings.

The next few weeks were difficult as she tried to keep Jeff at a distance. She walked through her days on auto-pilot, hoping this would conceal her inner torment. She snipped at Jeff to try and recreate what for them constituted a normal relationship. Her only comfort, and it was a very small one, was that Jeff's lawyers were trying to track down Pavla. Knowing that someone was on the tail of the trespassing trollop did soothe her feelings, slightly.

Trying to soothe her feelings even more, Hilary finally came up with the idea of dating. Maybe it was just a way to make herself feel desirable again, or maybe it was a way to avoid the real answer to her father's question. "What do you want?" he had asked. She still struggled with the answer, consciously at least. But every time she looked at Jeff, her heart knew the answer.

Seizing her own 'whim of fate' during a broadcast of "You've Met Your Match," Hilary turned the show into her own private dating service. She had decided that dating someone who worked at the station would be the best way to show Jeff she was single, while he was unavailable.

Despite her extensive plans, the evening turned out to be disastrous. Instead of Hilary flirting outrageously in front of Jeff, she found herself spying on him as he was on his "date" with Betty in the green room. Jeff adapted his plan as best he could, working with Betty to make Hilary jealous. It worked. Although she told herself Jeff was certainly not serious about Betty, watching him call her "pretty pumpkin" smashed her heart. Seething with anger and frustration over the evening, Hilary finally hit Jeff.

The moment her fist connected with his face, she regretted it and practically smothered him with attention. The incident proved cathartic and finally reopened the lines of communication between them. He went home with her that night so she could tend to his black eye and they sat up nearly half the night talking.

She wasn't quite sure who had initiated it, but when she woke the next morning in their bed, in his arms, it felt as though the last three months had not happened. And she knew the answer to her question. She wanted to stay here. With Jeff.

They agreed that they still had many things to work out, including the fact that he was still married. The fact that *her* husband couldn't -be- her husband because he was married to the Wicked Witch of the Axis irritated her to no end.

As the weeks wore on, Hilary became aware that the search for Pavla would have to be stepped up. She was feeling all the symptoms of being pregnant. With Jeff married to another woman, she knew her baby would have to be kept secret. Hard as it was for her to admit it, she knew the baby would have to be born in her own time. She ignored the heartbreaking fact that Jeff would never know his own child. Well, she tried to anyway.

Knowing she would have to leave soon, Hilary wanted to spend as much time with Jeff as possible. She knew they had to keep their distance in public, but they spent every night together. During the day, they proved their acting talents by making everyone believe they were still fighting.

Finally there was news on the Pavla front. A process server appeared at the station one day to serve Jeff with abandonment papers. Fearing that he would be tied up in legal knots, Hilary and the rest of the staff went to great lengths to protect him. Revenge was very sweet for Hilary when the process server figured out their game and explained his own plans for Pavla. He was going to double cross her and swindle the swindler out of three months of her life. He ripped up the papers he was supposed to give Jeff and served him with annulment papers instead, which he immediately, and gleefully signed.

The joy ended abruptly as Betty rushed into the green room with the announcement that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.

Suddenly Hilary realized it was December 7th. Her own life had been so confused and hectic in the past weeks, that she'd completely overlooked the significance of the date. The moment when peace turned to war affected her as if she had never heard the news before. Hilary was just as caught up in the abruptness of the war as everyone else. She grabbed Jeff's arm to keep from falling. A brief but heavy silence overtook the room.

She didn't want to leave. In a heartbeat World War Two wasn't just something she had read about in history books, she was living it. These were no longer just pictures of men in uniform who smiled for their sweethearts back home; these were friends who might not live to see the end of the war. Questions raced through her mind; would Jeff go to fight? Would she lose him to something much greater than another woman? She knew Jeff. Knew that he would probably be the first in line. She leaned into his embrace and held him tightly.

Over the next week, Hilary searched the deepest corners of her soul to decide what her own actions should be. The answer always remained the same. No matter how much she wanted to stay in the past, she knew she could not. She would be starting a time line that never existed. As she quietly packed the mementos and clothing she wanted to keep she ironically reflected that she had found every happiness in life, in a time in which she didn't belong.

On her last day at WENN she walked through the studio with a heavy heart. She wanted to pack everything from the studio in her suitcase as well, especially Jeff. She did her best to cover her sadness with her usual airs. It was the best way to keep the closeness she felt to these people from overwhelming her. When Jeff proposed to her again, she made light of it.

Somehow through her own tumbled thoughts and the higher than usual zaniness level at the station that day, she heard Gus Kahana mention the fact that married men were taken last. Desperately hoping to keep him safe, she turned the tables on Jeff and proposed to him. She saw that he was momentarily happy, until the realization came across his face that Hilary had only proposed in order to keep him out of harm's way. Defeated, Hilary watched with the other women as the men went off to join the war effort. Her resolve to leave shattered by the thought of Jeff fighting in the war, she changed her mind, and decided to stay.

After several hours the men returned to the station. Hilary nervously waited as they told the results. For various reasons none of the men had been accepted, and Hilary was overjoyed at this news, even if the men weren't. Silently she thanked God that at least some good had come from Jeff's knee injury.

Tempering Hilary's relief was the knowledge that she now had no excuse to stay for the duration. Knowing that Jeff would be safe and her friends would be okay, she had to return to her own time. Trying desperately to keep her emotions in check, she found a quiet corner near the writer's room. She laid a hand across her abdomen and half-heartedly smiled. "I'll make sure that you know your father." she whispered softly.

Hilary jumped at the sound of Eugenia's concerned voice. She smiled, "Oh yes. Just thinking how glad I am that the boys are staying here."

Hilary started toward Studio A and passed Eugenia who had continued her walk to the writer's room. At the corner Hilary suddenly looked back, "Eugenia."

Knowing this could very well be the last time she would talk to Eugenia, Hilary wanted to say goodbye and that she would miss her. She took a deep breath, but the only words that came out were, "you look very nice today." She smiled and walked into the studio, leaving a perplexed Eugenia behind.

Hilary's original plan had been to leave after the broadcast day. However the look on Jeff's face as he earnestly proposed, once again, threw Hilary into a panic. She started to joke, but stopped herself. She wanted Jeff to have something more concrete than another flippant refusal. It was now or never. Needing some excuse, any excuse, Hilary found herself telling Jeff she couldn't marry him because she was married to someone else.

The heartbroken look on his face was more than Hilary could endure. She left the studio and rushed out of the station. Her usual office space for communicating was still vacant. She slammed the door behind her and frantically called Adam.

She started to cry lightly, "Adam please, if you don't take me now, I'm never coming back!"

Adam heard her plea, and for once in his life could tell by her voice that she was deeply upset. "Get Justin here," he abruptly told their father.

The usual nausea told her that she was traveling. She sank to the floor and huddled against the wall, not bothering to try and stop her tears.

When the door opened, she wiped away some of her tears. Justin was the first person she saw through the blur. He knelt to her and she threw herself into his arms. She sobbed, "I can't do this...I can't lose Jeff. Oh God Justin, he's never going to see his child."

Fury overtook Hilary's sobs and she pushed away from Justin. She pulled herself up and walked to her oldest brother. Too quickly for anyone to stop her, she slapped Adam across the face. Years of frustrated anger came out as Hilary unleashed her pain. "You callous, cold-hearted bastard! I am a woman. I have feelings, in case you've forgotten that! You throw me into the past and insist I marry a man should never have met. After living with him for ten years, how could I NOT fall in love with him? How could I not want to have his child?" She leaned in closer to Adam, wanting to hit him again, but Justin had grabbed her arms, and kept them at her sides. "You can worry about incorrect timelines all you want to Adam Winslow, but you are playing with people's emotions." Hilary jerked free of her twin's hold, "The next time you want to play with a timeline, cast yourself, Pinnochio."

Already halfway to the door, she stopped for one final instruction. "I have some things at the house I would like for you to retrieve," she said almost flatly, "and once they are here, I don't want to see you for a good long time Adam."

She calmly shut the door behind her and found a chair in the hallway. She wiped her eyes and looked around. There were some different pictures on the wall, employees she didn't recognize, gadgets she had never seen. It dawned on Hilary that she would have to completely readjust to living in her own time.

She sank back against the wall and sighed. She was still wearing the brown and tan dress suit she'd put on that morning. People walked past her wearing blue jeans, T-shirts and lab jackets. No one nodded polite greetings, to them she was just some lady sitting on a chair in a hallway.

Hilary looked up to see that Justin had followed her out of the office. He offered to take her to his place to rest.

Justin put his arm around his twin's shoulder, "nothing changed, Hilary. Ya dun good, Sissy."

"Why do I feel so awful?" she sighed. She stood up and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked to the parking garage.

"Because you had to leave people you care about," Justin said quietly. "I couldn't imagine having to leave Benji." He smiled, stopped walking and turned to her. "But at least you'll have a part of Jeff with you."

She tried to smile at that thought, but couldn't quite make it through the tears. She cradled herself into her brother's arms instead. "Oh Justy. You don't know Jeffrey. He would adore being a father." She sobbed through the tears, which had somehow become a torrent, "it's not fair. It's just not fair."

Thomas anxiously sat at the controls as he waited for any communication from his oldest son. Adam had returned to September, 1945 to make sure everything was working out as it should.

Finally Adam's voice came in through the communicator. "Dad, I'm in the green room of WENN. I told 'em I was a sponsor. Look like sis did a good job. The war ended last month; and yes, we won.

"From what I've gathered, that's a bit of a sore subject here. I do know that she was apparently arrested along with a few other possible spies two years ago," Adam explained. "From what the receptionist tells me, no one has heard from her since."

Tom sighed, "But we still don't know who she was working for. All Hilary could say was that they were probably part of a small movement in Germany to keep the Nazi party alive."

"Well, I hope we can find them before they try something else," Adam stated. "I've done all I can do here. You can go ahead and bring me back now."

"Ok" Tom answered and he cut off the communication. He moved to the controls of the traveler's booth and activated it. As he did an alarm sounded. He glanced to see what was wrong, and saw that the weight limit for the booth had been exceeded. "Exceeded?" Tom wondered. Adam was the only person being transported, how could he be too heavy? He tried to stop the travel; to recheck the weight and the target, but it was too late.

The booth shimmered into view and Tom opened the door, not sure of what he would find. What he found was Adam, leaning against the wall, his forehead against his hand. This concerned Tom, but not as much as what else he saw in the booth. The whole crew from WENN had been transported, and they looked very confused.

"I'd like to know that myself, dad," Adam whispered. "What are we going to do with these people?"

"I'll...here..." Tom pushed his eldest son aside, "hello folks, my name is Tom Winslow, I'm sorry for the abrupt . . . um . . . this." He started to lead them out of the booth, "if you'll just follow me, I'll show you to a waiting room and then I'll try to explain what happened."

He walked them to the large family room that connected the Winslow family home to the labs. Tom could feel the curiosity from the group behind him. "Here, I hope you will be comfortable," Tom said, "someone will be with you in a moment." He was at the door and thought he had made his escape when he heard one of the mis-transported people ask a question. Inwardly, he cringed.

One of the men pushed forward, "excuse me, I'm Scott Sherwood. You think we could have an answer now?"

Tom replied, "I'm sorry. As soon as I figure out what exactly happened, I'll let you know." With that apology he shut the door and left them alone.

Mr. Foley and Mackie restrained Scott from following Tom back out into the hallway. Eugenia wondered out loud if she might be dreaming, several people shrugged in response. No one really knew what to make of the situation, but they decided they would rather face it together than separately. Gertie laughed as this situation reminded her of the time they were quarantined. Even after all this time no one else saw the humor in this and Gertie swallowed the giggle.

Jeff reassuringly placed his hands on Maple's shoulders and looked around the wide room. It was tastefully decorated with a light pink wallpaper strewn with dusty rose colored flowers. His eyes caught sight of a large picture hanging over the fireplace. It depicted five smiling men holding a laughing woman across their arms. Jeff stared at the picture in disbelief.