Easton appeared in the past and kept an eye on Lea, ready to defend her from whomever was going to attack. Finally, a woman appeared.
"It's nothing personal... Just testing a theory," Monica stated, pulling out a knife.
Lea's eyes widened and she flinched.
Before Monica could stab her, Easton slammed her back through a building. "No!"
Easton ran over to Lea. "Are you okay? Are you-?"
Monica laughed, standing and popping her knuckles. "Well, well, well... Looks like we have a hero."
Lea nodded and pointed at Monica. "Look out, East!"
Easton turned back towards Monica just in time to be punched through three buildings. Easton gasped in a breath, wincing, but teleported back over.
He kicked the knife out of Monica's hand before she could stab Lea then stood inbetween them. "Stop!"
Monica raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you persistant?"
She teleported over to Lea, teleported the knife to her hand, and stabbed Lea. "Persistance isn't enough. Nice try, kids."
She disappeared.
Easton ran over. "Lea!"
Lea collapsed and Easton caught her, holding her close.
Lea took in a sharp breath. "Th-that hurt..."
Easton frowned. "I'm so sorry... I'll take you back to the hospital, then I'll try to fix this..."He tried and tried over and over to save Lea. Every time he tried, Monica bested him and ran. He was putting enormous strain on Sam's machine... He had been trying for days now and he was exhausted. But he couldn't give up... He couldn't go back to a future where he was at her funeral again... He had to fix this... He had to save her.
"Stop!" Easton said, moving in front of her. "Stab me instead, leave her alone!"
"Well, well, well... A volunteer... Hm... How about I stab both of you?" Monica suggested, making another knife appear.
Before Easton could react, she stabbed him. When he collapsed, Lea's eyes widened in horror and she backed away. Monica stabbed her too.
"Thanks for helping with my little...experiment. Bye kids," Monica waved, disappearing.
The time anchor remote beeped then disconnected.
Easton's breathing was strained. "No...that was my last chance..."
Lea coughed, wincing. "East...it hurts..."
A tear ran down Easton's cheek. "I'm sorry, Lea... I tried..."
"I know... Thank you for that..." Lea said, smiling slightly.
"Of course... You've...always had...my...ba-AGHHH!" Easton yelled, squirming in pain.
His systems were collapsing. His energy felt like it was destroying itself. His heart was racing.
"Now... I guess we go together..." Easton said in a strained voice.
Lea winced, but smiled, taking his hand. "Y-yeah..."
Easton closed his eyes...
