Julie pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders and wished she could be inside with a nice warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate instead of trudging through the freezing sleet searching for a man who hoped to trap her in time for something Kevin did to him. She knew what Kevin told her couldn't be the whole truth about the matter but she didn't want to press him and upset him more than he already was.

“So you followed me instead,” Nick's voice rang out with several feet of woodland between them. “That's too bad; I had a nice trap set for you if you had gone into the camp. The General was very interested to learn that a woman was planning on making an appearance and that was she was going to be there to gather information, that she was a spy for the Redcoats. Instead, I will have to take care of you.”

He slowly started to walk towards her and suddenly Julie realized how stupid it was for her to go after Nick. She had no idea how she would stop him or force him to come back with her. She remembered his grip, it was strong and she knew she wouldn't be able to get away again if she caught her.

“AJ's not here?” She asked thinking if he started talking he might stop walking. She was afraid for Kevin; did the trap set for her capture him instead?

To her dismay he shook his head but continued towards her. He was cocky though, he walked slowly as if to torment her. She backed away slowly, afraid that if she turned and ran he would overpower her instantly, she needed to think of something quickly.

“Of course AJ isn't here. I put him somewhere he could do the most good. Steph did a wonderful job of luring you out of the house so you could overhear our conversation didn't she? Of course I knew by having her expose herself to you in that manner she would no longer be able to gather information about the project for me. She's trained others there; I will still get my information.”

Julie looked at Nick, eyes wide in shock.

Nick laughed. “Of course I knew you were there and that you would follow her, how could you pass that up? If you only had given me the information I wanted, none of this wold have been your concern.”

Nick must have picked up the pace as he was only a few feet away now. If Julie was going to get away, now would be the time for her to make a break for it. She turned back towards the camp and started to run at full speed, which was difficult in the ladies boots she was wearing and with the ground slick from the sleet. It did not come as a surprise to her when she felt Nick's hands grasping her arms; he turned her to face him. Julie didn't hesitate; she stepped on his foot with the heel of her boot which distracted him long enough to her to bring her knee up colliding with his groin.

Taken by surprise, Nick released her, falling to the ground. Julie took this chance to start running. She knew she wouldn't be able to make it to the camp without Nick following and possibly catching her, besides the camp was a trap for her it was probably best she not run straight into another trap. She needed to elude Nick so she could think of how she could get Kevin out of the camp.

Julie found some bushes grouped tightly together and ducked behind them, pulling her knees to her chest and watching Nick. It didn't take him too long to recover from her kick, his eyes shot immediately to the open space between the woods and the camp, where she would have been if she'd kept running straight for the camp. He must have realized she was still around there somewhere though, since he started to talk again.

“Julie, despite me stranding you in Rome to get even with Kevin, I haven't harmed you in any way. I don't think you understand my mission, what it is I stand for. I think if you did you would see that I am right and you would want to join with me. I want to fix everything in history that makes humans look horrible. Imagine if Hitler and the Nazi party never rose to power or if Martin Luther King, Jr. was never assassinated. How different things would be.”

She noticed Nick was farther away from her then when he started out so she chanced it and spoke. “Those things shaped the world without them Chronos Project might never have come into existence.” She shut her mouth quickly when he turned around; instead of walking straight towards her though he turned and walked to her left. “If you argue you are for the greater good, why are you stuck on revenge against Kevin?”

“He's never told you has he?” Nick laughed apparently amused by Julie's ignorance. “Zoe Harkin, do you remember what I told you about her?” He didn't pause for her to answer. “Zoe was the very essence of generosity and goodness. Instead of wondering what would happen to her with each jump, instead of questioning why it happened to her and if she'd ever make it home, she saw each jump as a new possibility to help someone. When I found her in China she was feeding children that nobody cared for, children left to die, all on her own. I couldn't help the feelings that developed for this extraordinary woman.”

Julie quietly moved further under cover as Nick had turned towards her direction.

“Once I discovered how to manipulate my device I was able to spend as much time as I wanted with her without the project knowing. I took a vial of the formula from Howie's office so she would stop randomly jumping. She refused to be taken to headquarters. Unlike you, she trusted me immediately and spoke often of all her jumps and the deeds she accomplished in each. She showed me all the good I could do with this power. We traveled to several time periods to help people or to right something we knew was wrong but we always ended back in China. It had become home to Zoe and she couldn't stand the thought of leaving those children alone, she felt she was doing the most good there.”

Julie desperately wanted to ask Nick what Zoe would think about him spending countless hours seeking revenge instead of helping, but she kept her mouth shut, he was facing her direction already and she didn't need to give him any more clues as to where she was. She needed to get back to Kevin and get out of there. Somehow they needed to find where Nick stuck AJ, too.

“Of course I needed to report back to the project to keep up the appearance that I was a good little volunteer abiding by their rules. I worked cases and all the while I recruited. Volunteers that were unhappy or not assigned cases were easy recruits. Zoe would just talk to them and the displaceds I brought her and they would see how right our cause was.

“Kevin destroyed it all. Passing as a recruit of mine he found our location and time. I still don't know how he found out what was going on.”

Julie remembered being told about the inquiry into Nick's activities when it was discovered his cases were solved too quickly and how the project had been tracking Nick's device. Julie slowly made her way towards an easy opening to the field between them and the camp. Nick needed to keep talking so that she could make a break for it.

His voice sounded too close for comfort as he continued. “He spoke with her; he played her, got her first jump information and was gone.” There was venom in his voice as he spoke. “I found out what happened from one of my spies within the project. He went to her first jump and returned her. Nothing she experienced, the lives she touched, the love we had, all of it was gone. I jumped back to her first jump to stop him but she was never there. My last trip to The Library I found what really happened.”

Julie looked behind her, she could run but she hated to admit it, she wanted to know. She realized too late that she should have run. Nick's hands gripped her tightly as he pulled her from behind the bushes.

He held her in front of him, standing on her feet so that she couldn't kick him again. “He killed her Julie.” A mixture of tears and anger were evident on his face. She looked at him confused, shaking her head in disbelief. Kevin may follow the rules and be uptight at times but she couldn't see him as a killer.

“I shouldn't have sent you to Rome. I should have just killed you right in front of him. For him to loose you...too bad he isn't here now.”

Julie reached desperately for her timer as she saw Nick produce a knife. She almost had her fingers on the buttons before she felt a searing pain in her side.

She watched Nick look around. “Guess he never finds out about this since he's not here to save you now. That or he's finally realized that he can't have you. Too bad.” Nick laid her on the ground and once again removed her device. Her hands clutched her side; she could feel the warmth of the blood cover her hands. Nick leaned down hovering over her, his lips brushing hers.

“Nothing personal Julie, I liked you but I cannot let you live. It's not fair.” With that said he dialed his device and waved good-bye.

Left alone, Julie glanced down at her wound. “Shit!” she cursed as she noticed the amount of blood seeping from her body. She attempted to sit up but the searing pain forced her back down. She was going to die. Kevin was going to die and somehow she felt at fault.

'No,' she thought to herself. She was not going to let it happen. Ignoring the pain she sat up and leaned on her right elbow, the wound facing up instead of being drug on the ground. She managed to move her right elbow forward and then pull herself along. It was slow and she could feel her energy draining but she continued.

She cleared the woods and could see the camp ahead. Slowly she moved until the pain and weariness overcame her, forcing her to collapse. It was light not long ago but now darkness crept in around her. Her breathing became shallow and she could no longer keep her eyes open. The only thought that brought her any happiness was that she knew Kevin would live through this all and he would find someone to love. Soon the only sense working was her hearing. The birds sounded beautiful and she was glad it would be the last thing she heard and she closed her eyes letting the pain overcome her completely.