Julie sat on the hospital like bed as Howie took another vial of blood for testing. She had been in a daze since Steph had told her the consequences of being linked to Nick. Eventually, it would kill her. When Nick had returned to her room for the answer she asked him about it and she knew by the look on his face that Steph had spoken the truth. He tried to tell her that he didn't know until after she was injected but she wouldn't hear it. She told Nick that she would help him discover who, if anyone, was behind the changes and if they were profiting from them. If Charles came back, maybe he could cure her.

“You look a million miles away,” Howie said as he pressed a cotton ball on the area the needle had been inserted into. She turned to him and gave him a half smile though she didn't really feel it. She should tell them all that Nick was alive, that he was behind her jumping. She wanted to tell him that she knew the results would show the virus spreading through her system more, that it would eventually take over and kill her. But she couldn't tell him that without telling him about Nick, and that would lead to questions about what they spoke about and she did not want to tell anyone what Nick told her, even that Nick was alive, just not yet. If he was right, she couldn't give the guilty party a chance to cover up their tracks.

“Where's Kevin?” She asked Howie.

“He's out on a mission.” Howie looked at her, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

“Looking for me?” Maybe if he had a lead on where she went then he could find Nick himself and get him to tell him where Charles was so they could end this link and hopefully cure her.

Howie shook his head. “No,” He admitted. “Jessica wanted him to check something out, it's all I was told.” He shrugged again and threw the needle in the hazardous waste bin.

“Oh,” Julie was disappointed that he was not there. She'd hope he would run into the room and take her up in his arms. She wanted him to hold her, to comfort her. She had a strange lost feeling and hadn't been able to shake it though she was home.

“You should get something warm to eat and get some rest.” Howie patted her shoulder and tried his best to look upbeat. She knew that he was frustrated with what was going on with her, upset that he did not have the answers. She could read it on his face that he felt like a failure in Charles' absence.

“Do you want to join me for the meal?” She asked him.

“Thanks for the offer, but I have some paperwork that needs to get done.” He smiled at her again and grabbed both vials of her blood and left the room.

Julie hopped off the table and exited the room. She made her way to the small cafeteria where the volunteers could prepare their own food, they didn't always eat out though it certainly seemed that way to Julie at times. She opened the cupboard and found a can of tomato soup. Pulling out the milk and a pot, she opened the can and dumped the contents in. She stirred as she focused on a spot above the stove and drifted off in thought.

“Julie?” A voice questioned from behind snapping her out of her daze. She turned to see Tessa coming into the room, a book in her hand.

“Tessa, what brings you here?” She smiled at the woman who set her book down on an empty table.

The other woman looked at her as she pulled out items from the fridge and set them on the counter.

“Oh right,” Julie said as she spooned some of her soup into a bowl.

“You are back again huh?” Tessa commented on Julie's recent disappearance. “Where did you travel to this time?” She asked, her voice was full of curiosity. Tessa had always been curious about her travels, was she digging for information? She eyed the woman, was she the inside man?

“I think it was Tudor England,” She answered careful not to give too much information away. “I stuck to the shadows and hid a lot to keep out of anyone's radar.” She lied.

“Oh.” Tessa sounded a bit disappointed and it triggered Julie to wonder why.

“You sound disappointed.” She flat out commented to the other woman. If she was going to help Nick figure out if there was some one changing history for profit, it wouldn't hurt if she also researched to find Nick's inside person at the same time.

“Well, it's just you always have such fun stories to tell about the times you visit. Even though some are scary. I like to read and even though I know they really happened to you, it's like you are a living book to me sometimes.” Tessa smiled as she prepared her food.

Julie made her way to the table that Tessa set her book down at and sat down. She pulled the book closer to see it. She remembered the title as the book was popular around the time that she started her college schooling. It would explain why Tessa was disappointed she had no stories about Tudor England.

“The Other Boleyn Girl?” She asked Tessa as the other woman sat down.

“It was in our fiction library here and looked interesting so I thought I would give it a try.” She smiled. “So far it is fantastic.”

“Well I do know I was there during the time of Henry and Anne, but that is about all I was able to take in.” She smiled brighter as Tessa beamed at her.

“That is so neat. I only ever get to travel to places as far back as the twentieth century.” She shrugged.

“There is a lot to see then too...” Julie offered up.

Tessa shook her head. “Not a whole lot. I visited the great depression five times now.” She sighed. “Jessica says she keeps getting information that a rogue volunteer is trying to stop many different things from happening during that time. I think she just wants to send Justin and I on a wild goose chase so that she and Howie are here alone. We are usually the last volunteers to get missions.” Tessa laughed at the thought.

“Alone?” Julie perked up. What would the two remaining people in charge want to be alone? Were they planning something?

Tessa nodded. “Office gossip, but we think they are having a fling.”

Julie nodded hoping that she looked like she was going along with the idea of the two having a fling. Jessica was quite a bit older than Howie and somehow she doubted there was any romantic interludes between the two. This would definitely be a good place to start her research to see what was going on between the two.

The women chatted about little things, Tessa gave her some information about what Kevin had been up to and she told her about Erika and AJ's recent successes at finding rogue volunteers. “Does it seem like they just are in random rooms making out?” Tessa asked.

“Yes,” Julie laughed remembering the encounter in the jump room. “So, is there anything going on between you and Justin?” Julie had to ask because of the strange behavior of Justin.

Tessa blushed and looked away. “No, he is a good friend. He helped me out of a few jams and he has sort of become my sort of my protector.”

Julie nodded and moved to wash her bowl and put it away. She thought she should look into Justin, he was a strange one and his odd behavior made him ripe for suspicion. Who was she kidding, she had to look at everyone, but first she would look into Howie and Jessica.