Time Break

Megan came upstairs from the lab looking more tired and haggard than Jim had ever seen her. There were scorch marks all over her white lab coat, and a faint smell of smoke accompanied her arrival.

"Okay, Jim. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" Megan croaked out.

Jim looked at his wife. In spite of her exhaustion, she still looked beautiful as ever. Jim didn't know how he had lucked out. When they had been in high school together, she had barely known he existed. She was the cheer captain and presumptive valedictorian, while Jim was always just the average guy in the background who could never dream of dating a girl like her. She had been a bit wild in her younger days - stories of her exploits in the bedroom were a topic of frequent locker room gossip. However, when she got to college she slowed down her party girl lifestyle, met Jim and they really hit it off. Now they had been married happily for years and things couldn't be better.

"Let's hear the good news," Jim ventured.

"Okay, well... I managed to stop the spacetime continuum from completely unraveling when my machine blew up," Megan said.

Jim didn't know how to take this. Without really understanding, he said, "And the bad news?"

Megan crossed her arms. "You have babysitting duty for the next week at least."

Jim looked at her curiously. "Okay? Uh, who exactly am I going to be babysitting?"

"You're going to be babysitting me," Megan said.

Jim was more confused than ever now. "I'm sorry, I think you're going to need to back up."

Megan rolled her eyes. "Look, it'll be easier if I show you." She opened the door to the basement. "Come on up!"

Up the stairs walked... Megan? Jim rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But no, it was another Megan. Except when he inspected more closely, he found that this second Megan was clearly younger. Her face had the glow of youth, she seemed to be slightly slimmer, and her curves seemed a little less prominent than the Megan standing next to her. It was definitely Megan, but she looked more like she was 18. This impression was confirmed by her clothes - nowadays, Megan usually insisted on wearing conservative business wear or her lab coat. But the younger Megan was wearing booty shorts, a skimpy top that showed off her midriff and she was working hard on a piece of gum.

"Who's he?" the new Megan said.

"This is my, uh, our husband Jim," the older Megan said. "He's going to keep you out of trouble while I try to get everything fixed."

"Great," the younger Megan said. "I get to see the future, but my future self keeps me under house arrest. You're worse than my mom!"

The older Megan opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, clearly thinking better of getting into an argument with herself. "Look, I'm really sorry about this. But I don't want to mess with your, uh, our timeline more than necessary. I need to fix the machine, and send you back. That should fix everything - at least as much as is possible."

Jim now had way more questions than before. He decided to ask the biggest one. "Okay, but isn't this going to cause a time paradox or something?"

The older Megan shook her head. "It shouldn't. I've briefed my younger self on the ins and outs of time travel - I trust she'll keep things in order. And like I said, the good news is that I managed to keep the timespace continuum intact. Mostly. Now, please - please take care of her, uh me, while I go and start fixing things. It'll take at least a week to get things fixed."

The older Megan left without another word.

Jim was left alone in the room with a teenaged version of his wife. He had no idea where to even start.

Luckily, she cut through the silence. "So, I'm married to you in the future?" Megan asked looking him up and down. "I've got to say, you're kind of cute. Is the sex any good?"

Jim almost choked at her words. Had Megan always been this forward?

"I- I don't think it's appropriate for us to discuss that. I don't want to mess up the timeline or anything."

The teenaged Megan shook her head. "You heard her - the timeline's resilient. If I'm stuck here I might as well hear the dirt on my future self. Is the sex any good?" She blew a bubble and it popped.

Jim smiled awkwardly, "We definitely have a lot of fun together," he admitted.

Megan bit her lips looking at his chiseled body. "God, I wish I could see what it's like when we're together."

Jim's discomfort was growing by the second. "I'm, uh, afraid you'll have to be patient and find out when you're older."

Megan smiled innocently. Jim recognized that smile, it was always an ill omen.

"C'mon, Jim. Why don't you give me a little preview of what's to come?"

She leaned in for a kiss, but Jim pushed her softly away and took a step back.

He cleared his throat. "Look, I'm *really* not comfortable with what you seem to be suggesting. I wouldn't want to betray Megan under any circumstances."

Megan winked. "She's me, silly. Surely, it wouldn't be cheating on your wife, if you did it with your wife? Besides, wouldn't you like to see what she was like in her prime?"

Jim had to resist every urge in him right now. Megan had told him that she had been a bit of a wild child in her youth, but he had no idea just how true it was! But he knew he couldn't take advantage of a young girl, even if she was his future wife.

"Look, we really can't. Why don't we change the subject? Surely, there's other things you want to know about the future?"

Megan looked disappointed, but seemed to accept the subject change for now. She let him show her around the house, and when he showed her the iPad, she was enchanted. He left her to her own devices to browse the internet of the future.

When he came back with water glasses for her, she looked disappointed. "Don't you have any booze? If I'm stuck here, I might as well get drunk while I'm at it."

Jim shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Megan pouted, "Come on - it's not like I haven't gotten drunk before. Surely, I've told you about all the parties I went to in high school."

"I do- I know about your party girl phase," he said. "We went to the same high school."

Megan's interest was piqued at this. "Oh, so I know you?"

Jim wondered if he had made a mistake. "No, uh, we weren't really friends. I don't think-"

Megan narrowed her eyes, "James Holmes?" she said.

James had been the quarterback of the football team. Jim was a little flattered that she apparently thought he could be the future version of James Holmes. Apparently, hitting the gym had had more impact than he realized.

"No," he said.

"James Meyers?" she guessed.

Eventually she ran out of guesses.

"I'm James Lowry," he admitted. "But most people call me Jim."

Megan shook her head. "I have no idea who that is."

"Yeah, I figured as much. We didn't really roll in the same circles in high school."

"Hm... well, I guess that doesn't really matter now," Megan said, sounding unconvinced. "What matters is who you became. And the question is, are you the kind of person who's going to hook me up with some alcohol right now?"

Jim sighed. He was starting to feel like he at least needed a drink. Was it really that bad to give the 18 year old version of his wife alcohol? He looked at her tight, young body. Her breasts, her flat tummy, her athletic figure. God, she was hot back then. He couldn't help but feel like letting her get drunk was a *very* bad idea.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not going to give you any alcohol," he finally said.

"Oh, in that case," she said. "I guess I'll just change the timeline and make sure that we never end up together."

Jim's face betrayed worry. Was that possible? "You can't do that! Megan and I are happy together. You and I are happy together."

"I'm sure we are - but I'm hot and brilliant, I'm sure I can find someone else I'd be just as happy with," she said crossing her arms.

Jim felt the world stutter for a moment. He was in a dirty studio appartment. Where had Megan gone? Where had his house gone?

Memories slowly came back to him. He had never met Megan, never gotten a girlfriend, never found success, and now he lived alone and played video games all day. He looked down at his body - there was no six pack. He was fat, clearly having let himself go.

Fear overtook him. No! This couldn't be. If it was what he had to do, he'd give Megan the booze.

Suddenly, the old reality reasserted itself. He was again looking at his young wife, who had a mischevious smile on her face.

"Alright, I've changed my mind. Let me show you the liquor cabinet."

Megan smiled. "That's what I thought."

Jim felt defeated. No matter what he did, all options were bad.

"Drink a shot with me."

Jim wanted to say no, but the younger Megan had all the cards. She could change the course of his life, and he could do nothing to her.

At her insistence, the two of them did several more shots together. Dread was welling up in Jim's stomach. And... something else.

"It looks like someone's happy to see me," she said, looking at the tent in his pants. "Do you want to take me up on my offer from earlier?"

"No, I shouldn't..." Jim said weakly.

Megan leaned in to kiss him, and he didn't resist this time. It was just like kissing the older Megan, except there was something different - a youthful energy, an inexperience. No, not exactly an inexperience, even at this age Megan was experienced, but an unfamiliarity. He knew what it was like to kiss her, but for her kissing him was a new experience.

They made out on the couch for a time, but Megan guided his hands to her breasts.

"Come on, take me," she insisted. "You know what will happen if you don't..."

Jim was drunk enough, and horny enough, and blackmailed enough that he couldn't resist any more. He started greedily groping her breasts. She started taking her clothes off.

Soon, she was there in all her naked glory.

God, she was perfect. God, she was young.

"Do you like what you see? Bet I don't look like this anymore."

"No, you don't," Jim admitted.

"Answer honestly, who's hotter, me or her?" she said mischeviously.

"You," Jim said breathlessly.

"Fuck me."

He didn't need another invitation. He entered her tight, young pussy. The feeling was electric.

He grinned, realizing that he knew exactly what Megan liked. He was intimately familiar with every inch of her body - though it was now younger and firmer than usual - and he would be able to do exactly what he knew she loved in bed.

Megan started moaning as he worked her body in ways she had only ever dreamed of. She had been fucked before, but never as good as this. It was like he could read her mind, find just the right inch of skin to stimulate, the perfect position and rhythm to make her nerves sing.

Jim loved young Megan's enthusiasm. What she lacked in familiarity with him, she more than made up for with her youthful vigour and eagerness to please.

She was also more wild and adventurous than his Megan had ever been.

The two of them made love for what must have been hours, but which felt like no time at all - so punctuated it was with the pleasures of the flesh. Jim kept finding it in him to go one more round, and Megan for her part was kept constantly orgasming by his skillful ministrations. When they were nothing more than senseless, panting messes on the floor - somebody opened the basement floor.

"What the fuck, Jim?" the older Megan asked. "What. The. Fuck. JIM!?"

Jim pulled himself off of the younger Megan. "This was her idea, she blackmailed me - and said she'd change the timeline if I didn't do it."

The older Megan's face was red, while her younger self was simply giving a self satisfied smile.

Nothing happened as the two women stared at each other, but then older Megan tackled her younger self. The two of them started fighting on the ground.

Jim wanted to intervene, but didn't know how.

The two of them rolled around on the floor, and the younger Megan got to her feet and tried to escape her enraged past self. However, the older Megan grabbed her leg and tripped her.

Thud!

The younger Megan's temple struck the coffee table in the middle of the room, and then stopped moving.

"Oh, fuck," the older Megan said. "What have I done?"

The world shuddered like it had earlier.

* * *

Jim blinked and looked around the house confused. Somehow, the house seemed different - smaller?

That was silly, it had always been like this. He decided to see what Megan was up to. He walked upstairs and she appeared to be trying on outfits for her shoot later.

"Like, hello, Jimmy!" she giggled. "You like my outfit?"

Jim smiled. Megan was the perfect wife, in spite of her ditzy moments.

She had been quite smart when she was younger - on track for valedictorian, but had gotten a pretty bad concussion when she was younger and her IQ had dropped by three standard deviations.

That had put her in a remedial math class where she had met Jim, and they had been happy together ever since. She was now a model, and Jim was rising through the ranks of a sales job.

It was so funny how things went sometime. Jim sometimes wondered what his life would have been like if Megan had never had her accident. Would they have ever even met?

He smiled. No, probably not. He looked at his gorgeous, empty-headed wife. But why question the random blessings of time?