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 The pounding on the door was so loud that Izzy thought for a moment it was her head.  She groaned rolling over.  She looked down at the bed below her and noticed that Megan was staring at the door, eyes wide, Brian was still sleeping.  Her first response had been that it had been one of them knocking because the door was locked and they couldn’t get in, but she realized how flawed that was by the time she had flung herself out of the bed and onto the floor facing the door.  


She grabbed the closest weapon she could find, a knife, and made her way to the door.  She stood with her ear pressed against it, she couldn’t hear anything outside.  She moved out from behind the door and stood flat against the wall.  She pulled the door open slightly.


“Hello?” a friendly voice called out.  


“Who is it?” Izzy asked still standing mostly out of sight. 


“Sorry to disturb you, my name is Max.  I’m the porter and I didn’t see any bags for this car when the train boarded, so I wanted to make sure you weren’t missing your luggage. “


Megan stood quickly and opened the door wider, smiling at the man outside the door.  “Well hello,” she said winking.


Izzy shook her head and grinned, moving the knife into her waistband, she made her way to Brian’s bed and sat on it mostly to block the porter from seeing who it was sleeping there, but somewhat for her own comfort, just being near Brian made her feel better.   She could feel Brian start to stir and knew he would probably wake soon.


“We travel light,” Megan was talking to the porter.  “We didn’t have any more bags than what we brought with us.” 


The man nodded and started to walk away but Megan was not going to let him get away from her.  “I was wondering if you could, maybe, give me a tour of the train.”  Izzy could hear the tone of voice Megan was using.  It was the same one she used whenever she wanted something that she was sure the other person wasn’t going to want to agree to.  “My daddy loved trains and we would go every weekend to chase trains, he died and I miss him dearly.  He died just last year and I miss him so much.”  She pouted and looked like she was on the verge of tears. Izzy was amazed at her friend’s acting ability sometimes.  “A tour might be just the thing to help raise my spirits.” 


The porter looked unsure as he stood just outside the door.  Megan put her hand gently on his shoulder and he started to mumble.  “Well… I guess… alright.” He finally answered and Megan, beaming, pulled him into a hug. 


Megan looped her arm through the porter’s and turned to smile back at Izzy.  She winked at her friend and mouthed “Talk to him” nodding her head towards Brian before shutting the door and wandering off for her tour. 


“What was that,” Brian asked as he rolled over and sat up noticing Izzy on his bed. 


“Just Megan,” Izzy shook her head.  “Brian,” she said turning to face him. 


“Isabelle,” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up completely. 


“We really need to talk.  I feel like there are things that you are holding back.” She had felt that way when they talked earlier, it seemed that he was avoiding a topic of conversation with her.  He never really answered her question about going back to Leighanne, but she could see it in his eyes that there was more.


Brian sighed and looked out the window at the passing scenery.  He knew this was coming.  There was no way to avoid not giving her the information she wanted. What was going on him involved her, she needed to know everything.  He opened his mouth to say something but Izzy cut him off.


“Maybe if we talk about what we remember, what we have dreamed then something will spark and our memories will come back.  At least then we would know why we are being chased, why there were people inserted into our lives. What is real….” 


He could no longer push the dreams he’d been having about her away, he turned towards her so that he could look her in the eyes as he told her all of what he dreamed.   “Some of my dreams are so broken that I’m not sure what is real and what is not.  You have been in my dreams since the day we met.  I always felt comfortable with you, always felt like I belonged where you were when I was dreaming. “  It was as if the flood gates opened. Brian couldn’t contain what he’d been keeping hidden since they started.  He told her about the picnic, the proposal in the park, the brief glimpse of their vows, being chased by the dark van, falling from the sky and finally he told her about the lab and being strapped to


As Brian had let the words flow out of him Izzy had closed her eyes and let his words wash over her.  When the images started to come into her head she thought it was only because Brian was describing them but she knew they were different.  She was seeing the events from her eyes.  “That day in the park was perfect,” she whispered afraid that if she spoke any louder the train would derail and their world would be thrown upside down again.


“What?”


Izzy opened her eyes and looked at Brian. She felt like this would be a moment to have tears in her eyes but her eyes were dry.   “I remember…us.” She sighed feeling relieved that she finally remembered something complete, not just feelings or broken images.  “I don’t remember all the details.  I know we met at work but I couldn’t tell you what our jobs were.  But I remember that picnic.  You were so nervous as you held out that ring to me.”   Izzy was smiling but she noticed that Brian’s expression made him look more confused than anything else. 


She could tell that Brian was still in the same place he was before.  He only had the dreams, the images in his mind but that is all they were, dreams. 


“I remember the lab, the injection and then the next thing I remember is sitting in Dr. Thompson’s class.”  Izzy pondered out loud.  She couldn’t help but smile as her head started to feel more at ease now that she knew some information about her life before, the life that had been hidden from her. 


Brian felt frustrated.  They had been his dreams, his supposed memories but she was the one that benefited her.  So now she was having correct memories on top of random skills come to her.   “What about the dream with Kevin and the van?”   


She shrugged.  “I don’t remember that one. You said I was there?” 


Brian nodded.  “We were being chased down the alley; I pushed you behind some boxes to hide you.”


“Maybe it’s part of why we were given new memories and a new life? I still can’t remember what I did before, can’t remember why they would want to do this to me, I don’t even know who they are.  I can only remember that you and I met, fell in love and married before this all happened.  It’s not just a picture from Howie’s files as proof either, I remember getting in my wedding dress. ”  


Brian let out a growl of frustration before looking back towards the window.  Maybe if he prayed about it he would find his answers. 


“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked laying her hand gently on his shoulder.  She had moved closer to him and he could feel the heat from her body.


“Those were my dreams, how come you go the revelation and I am still just as confused as I was before?” 


Izzy looked out the window and thought about why she would be having a break through.  “Maybe,” she started.  “Maybe it’s because,” She shook her head and stood.  He wasn’t going to want to hear what she was going to say, she knew that, it was best if she kept her mouth shut.  Too bad she hadn’t thought of that before she started speaking.  When she turned back to face Brian he was looking at her expectantly. 


“Because?”


“Maybe it’s because I have nothing attaching me to this new life.  People that were close to me betrayed me and I have lost those feelings of closeness with them.  Dr. Thompson, a father to me, was part of whatever this is.   But when he attacked me, I lost the love for him.   You found out your wife was part of it but you are still hold on to the love you feel for her, you are keeping yourself connected to this woman.  You took vows, even if they didn’t actually happen, they are real to you and you take them seriously.” 


Brian continued to look out the window not responding to what she had just said.  She could tell he was thinking things over, keeping his calm.  She knew that he would have to think over what she just said before he could respond to her, but she knew he was right about him.  Once he made a promise he kept it.  Izzy pulled herself back up on her bunk and lay down looking at the ceiling.    She couldn’t get over the fact that she actually knew that about him. She also knew it was one of the things she loved about him.   Her eyes were still dry as her mind wandered.   He also made a promise to you in your vows to love and cherish you forever but he’s forgetting those to return to his other wife.  She thought to herself. 


“It’s Baylee,” Brian’s voice cracked as he spoke to Izzy.   He didn’t really want to talk about this with Izzy, though he was sure he’d mentioned something before.  “Baylee is my son, her son too.  Even though he was grown in a tube, he still is part of me.  I can’t abandon him and his mother because I am having memories of another life.  I just can’t…” his voice faded out.  Izzy stayed silent after he finished speaking.  He wasn’t sure if she heard him or if she believed him but he’d said his piece. 


The train started to slow and Izzy sat up looking out the window.  There was no way they should be stopping already, they hadn’t event travelled a full day yet.   Both Brian and Izzy whipped their heads towards the door as Megan whipped open the door. 


“Guys, we have an issue.”  She said slamming the door shut and locking it behind her.