Chapter 27

Bobby

February 18^th^, 1947

The real Jessica grabbed Bobby's hand and started crying. She looked different than Ming. Less confident. Less cynical. Nothing big, just a softening around her eyes. If Bobby hadn't spent the last few days with the reporter, he'd never have noticed the difference.

"Mom. What happened to you?" Jessica said, wiping her face.

He patted her on the head, ignoring Bugsy and his men. She was an innocent in all this and didn't need this. He needed time to think. It wasn't time for them to fade yet. They still had another two or three days left here before they would disappear. "How much do you remember of the last few days?" he asked.

Jessica stopped sobbing and blew her nose. "I remember Steven coming over. He wanted to talk." She narrowed her eyes. "After that, it's a blank. What happened?"

Bobby smiled and put his hand on her cheek. It wasn't the reporter. She'd never let him do this in front of others, and she'd never call him 'Mom'. "He tried to kill us both," he lied. Bugsy didn't need to know the truth. "I was able to take care of him and left him in the desert, but he hurt us, and we had to check into the hospital."

Jessica drew back, her hand going to her mouth. "No," she whispered.

Bugsy whistled. "I knew you was a tough dame." He took off his hat and mock bowed to Bobby. "I can see why Slazney wanted me to keep an eye out for you." He reached over and grabbed Jessica's shoulders, drawing her back.

"Don't touch her!" Bobby shouted.

"Take it easy," Bugsy said, moving Jessica to the background and giving her to his men. "Nobody will do a thing to her as long as you answer my questions." He directed the man to take her out of the room.

"Mother?" Jessica said, sniffing.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. If he touches you, grab his nut sack and twist," Bobby said, not taking his eyes off Bugsy.

"I warned ya." Bugsy raised his hand.

Bobby ignored the hand and glared at the mobster. "Why did Slazney come to see you in the first place?" Bobby asked, trying to stifle a giggle. Bugsy looked like a raccoon.

Bugsy lowered his hand. "He had a bunch of money he wanted to invest in the Flamingo. He gave some good advice about placement and design, but he wanted me to move it to a different spot and include a different kinda window. Too much pink." Bugsy shrugged and cringed. "I refused. He threatened me and killed a few of my men before I was able to get rid of him."

"You killed him?" Bobby asked.

Bugsy spat into the corner. "He told me I'd regret it, like some kinda pulp baddie." Bugsy shook his head. "I figured he was a moron who had been hit in the head one too many times. I appreciated the advice, but he wore out his welcome. Then it got annoying and weird. I thought I had him rubbed out, but each time he kept coming back through a different proxy. Usually, as the oddest people. I could never figure out why so many people were wasting their lives for him." He turned to one of his men. "Remember the priest?"

The tall man slapped his head. "Yeah! That guy was freaky." He shivered. "When he pulled his gun out of that bible in the church, I was expecting lightning to strike him."

"It's been quiet for the last few years, but I've never forgotten the bastard. Like some sorta bad fungus."

Bobby narrowed his eyes. "You knew Slazney was different people?"

"Yeah. I eventually figured it was some sorta cult of killers. I could never figure out why each of them called themselves by the same name." He scratched his nose. "Whatever they were, they caused me a lot of trouble."

"That's why I'm here," Bobby mumbled.

"Speak up, woman!" Bugsy strode forward and grabbed Bobby's shoulders. "You said he's your brother, before. Elaborate!"

"Yes." Bobby nodded, wincing at the pain. "I think so. I haven't seen him in years, and I thought he was dead." He lay back down in the bed. "I'm not here to kill you, Mr. Siegel. I don't care what happens to you." Bobby smiled. "If I see Slazney, I'd probably try and kick his ass myself." He shook his head. "But I know why he was here. Maybe."

Bugsy tapped his foot. "Are you going to tell us?"

"This is just a guess, but he probably wanted to set up something to impart a computer virus into people. Whatever he used to jump, he just couldn't figure out how to make it work properly," Bobby said, frowning. "He'd probably then use the virus to control their decisions and take control of the gambling industry. Vegas will be a very rich place one day, with billions going through here annually. He wanted a part of that payday."

It couldn't be that simple, could it? But then Vlad never really thought things through.

"Billions?" Bugsy smiled. "That's a number I could never get used to." He frowned. "What the heck's a computer virus?"

Bobby turned to the gangster, ignoring the question. It would require more time than he cared to spend to explain the code.

"You stifled his plans. Set him back decades. He tried to force the situation here, but the conditions weren't right, and he's a piss-poor programmer. I must have been drawn in because of the anomaly."

"Programmer? What's with these strange words? Whatever." Bugsy lit another cigarette. "They don't sound important. I was going to stick around here for a few more months, but I think I'll head to California. Virginia's been after me to spend some time in her new place." He waved to his men to leave the room.

At the door, he paused and snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot." He turned back to Bobby. "We got some unfinished business, you and me." He smiled. "I'm afraid you and your daughter have to go on a little ride."

"Dammit!" Bobby groaned. "If this is you, Vlad, I'm not going to stop at the pigs."

✦

"Mr. Siegel is sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to find your way home from here," the mobster said, getting into the car and driving away.

The heat from the day pushed down on Bobby. Siegel's men drove Bobby and Jessica a hundred miles into the desert. Watching the city go by, Bobbie tried to think of ways to get out of the car, but there was nothing he could do without leaving Jessica alone. He couldn't abandon her.

The afternoon sun was setting, and the coolness of the desert seeped into his bones. He sneezed as the sand settled into his nose. Catherine's body was thin and couldn't handle the cold as well as his male one could. He needed to get home. Bobby glanced at Jessica. She was shivering and rubbing her hands along her arms.

"Sorry about this girl. I didn't mean to get you mixed up in this," he said.

"What's going on, Mother?" She'd spent the first part of the ride crying. Now her eyes were red and puffy.

"I beat the shit out of Bugsy Siegel the other day, and your father sold us out to him," Bobby said.

Jessica was silent as her eyes went wide, trying to form words, only her brain probably wasn't working.

"In addition, Steven killed me. Sorry. I'm actually not your mother, I'm just using her body. My name is Bobby, and I'm from Russia." He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Jessica's eyes rolled up into her head, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"I thought so," Bobby sighed. "Ripping off the band-aid never works as well as they think it does." He shook his head. There was no way to make this hurt any less. "Nothing better than a shared trauma to start a relationship," he mumbled. He just wished he believed it.

✦

After moving Jessica out of the sunshine, Bobby found some small pieces of wood and a tumbleweed. The night was cold, but the fire burned in a small pit Bobby had dug off to the side of the road. Nobody travelled to these parts this late at night, so finding shelter was the most important thing. The first thing he learned when moving to Vegas was how to survive in the desert. He figured the skills would come in handy if Gregory ever tracked him down. Too bad he didn't have any plastic. It would make it easier to catch the condensation early in the morning. Bobby and Jessica sat around the fire, warming their hands. True night had fallen, leaving the world in darkness. The only pinpoints of light were the fire and the stars in the sky. It would have been beautiful if it weren't so sad.

Jessica stared into the flickering light. After waking, she spent an hour crying and then another hour fighting Bobby. Only after shouting at her in Russian did she calm down.

"Let me get this straight," Jessica said. "You were forced to remember a code that would cause untold destruction, and it sent you here to nineteen forty-seven, instead."

Bobby nodded.

"You had developed it years ago, but erased it from your mind because it was too dangerous. However, the only way to get it back out of your head was to remove the blocks, finish writing it and use it."

"That's the basis of it. I didn't realize it was this flawed at the time. The guy who shoved it in my head was a terrible programmer. I thought it was buggy, but often you don't realize the extent until after you run it the first time and it doesn't work."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you learn how to code a program, you start by breaking up each job into manageable parts. You don't really create a code as a whole from the beginning, so you ignore a lot of detail until you need it." Bobby moved closer to the fire. He was shivering. "I just wanted it gone from my head. I didn't realize what it was doing."

"My mother?" Jessica asked. The firelight reflected off her face. The flickering flame cast shadows and made her seem like an alien one moment and a scared child the next.

"She's dead." Bobby didn't sugarcoat it. "Steven killed her, and then he strangled you. When Ming jumped into your body, there was still time for the nanobots to heal you and her concern for you tethered your soul to hers. When I jumped in, your mother's soul was gone, and I wasn't in any shape to bring it back."

Jessica turned away from the fire. Her shoulders shook as she started crying again. He wanted to grab her and hold her. If this had happened to his child, he'd feel the same way.

"What is this code anyway?" Jessica asked between sobs.

"Something very dangerous and difficult to control. I wish I'd never found it," Bobby said. "It was fun for a while, but no one should have the power over time and space. All it does is warp people."

"Some people want it?"

He nodded. "They spend their youth trying to learn magic and then spend the rest of their lives dealing with the problems it causes. My code makes a shortcut. I don't want that headache."

Bobby fed some more sticks to the fire. It was too dark to walk back yet, but they'd have to move before the sun came up. The heat of the day would kill them before the lack of water would. When they drove them out here, Bobby counted the miles but stopped after a hundred. If they were that far from the nearest city, they would have to walk for days to get anywhere.

"You should have never forgotten the code," Jessica grumbled.

"Maybe, but that was my choice at the time, and I'd make the same one again."

He watched her curl up by the fire. It would be easier to curl up together and share the warmth, but Bobby let her have her space. As much as her pain hurt him, he wasn't her mother, and there was no reason for him to act like it. He still remembered what it was like to be a kid. Hell, he still lived like one.

"I hope your disappearing doesn't mean what I think it means, Ming," he mumbled.

The fact that I'm still here is a little more worrying. Barbie would have brought me back with you.

He lay down in front of the fire and closed his eyes. At least now there were no visions of zombies and blown-up buildings when he opened them. A good night's sleep was the only positive thing about finishing the code.