In the first moment he took to relax all day, as he finally stretched out comfortably in his big leather massage chair, a cold beer in one hand and the remote in the other, poised to do a little Netflix-surfing, Stuart suddenly remembered.

Damn, I forgot to call Jules back. 

Stuart cracked his neck wearily and looked over his cell's call history.  Things very likely must have worked out, for she didn't call again. Anyway, he'd been hard at work all this Sunday, as was typical; while his girlfriend liked to fritter the morning away sitting in church, he and his much more enlightened self always caught up on upcoming lectures, tweaked designs, tied up all the loose ends he didn't get to during the previous week. 

Probably the only thing he really wanted to accomplish, and couldn't solely because it was Sunday and most of the team didn't work then, was to get an early start on repairing Speck.  But he'd already called a handful of his most learned cross-continuum disciples to assist Steve and Tim over the next couple of days. 

It was too late at night to call her now. Julia always went to bed a little earlier on Sundays, he knew. That was one of the many things Stuart appreciated about Julia; she was a creature of habit. He could practically set a clock by her, she was so tied to her routine.  He never had to worry about Julia, honestly, and therefore he never felt jealous, except-

And then Stuart froze up a little, brows knitting, and cursed aloud when he remembered. 

Oh yeah. 

Except Freddie.

That was it.  She must have been calling about Freddie.  Her ex.  Her currently live-in ex. 

Fool he was, he'd been so wrapped up in his plans he didn't even remember Freddie was staying with her, even after he'd gone so far as to call and check in that morning.  Why had he even allowed that to happen, allowed that creature to just waltz right back into Julia's life without one word of protest? 

Stuart had witnessed the moment it all began back in 2017, when his two partners in crime, Dr. Christopher and Dr. Kurzweil, sent her into the past- the desired target, Saul Alinsky in 1971.  The idea had come from George himself, to send a modern college youth to this effective community organizer with questions concerning the modern era, and find out not only how Alinsky would respond to the questions, but how the college student would respond to Alinsky himself.

But that's not what happened. 

By some unforeseen glitch in the system, Julia was whisked to 1977 London, planted right in the home of one Freddie Mercury, all because she tried to look him up on her phone.  And though on this side of the continuum it only took two hours to bring her back, she was at that man's mercy for two solid weeks.

Stuart knew that at some point while she was trapped there, Julia and Freddie had become romantically involved.  And that confused him; for he had always heard that Freddie Mercury was gay, or (as Julia liked to describe it) bisexual with a considerable preference for men over women. 

Nevertheless, how deep the feelings went, and whether the two of them actually "got physical," was still a mystery to him.  Dr. Christopher had his own theories about what went on- theories that Stuart, after seeing firsthand how well-endowed Freddie happened to be, decided weren't so far-fetched after all- but Julia would never confirm or deny anything he claimed took place.  In fact, she had spoken very little of those two weeks- and even less of the man in general, save that there was nothing between them anymore, and anyway, too many years had gone by for feelings as shallow as theirs to keep lingering in the first place.

All the same...

Stuart tapped out a quick group text to his two partners in crime, requesting a video conference in five minutes.  There were things on his mind now, issues that would keep him up all night unless they were addressed immediately.

Mr. Robot reruns could wait.

**************************************************************************************************

K rubbed his eyes and swallowed a yawn, trying not to let his eyes keep drifting to the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to look at himself.  He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed; both C and Stuart still had their professional work clothes on, while K was already in his pajamas.  It didn't help that C kept making little sarcastic quips about K's age and how glad he was that he could join them, considering this must have been "way past your bedtime."  Man, but Tim was just in sarcasm overload these days.  Things must not have been going well with his wife.

I hate video chats, K muttered inwardly.  Whatever happened to regular old phone calls?

"So I want us to really kick it into tenth gear tomorrow morning," Stuart went on.  "The less time that guy spends here, the better.  Tim, you got the team notified and everything?"

"George has been told, and he's sending whoever who need and however much it takes to make it happen."  C looked up from inspecting his fingernails.  "Don't worry, we'll get him out of here before he does too much damage."

"Excuse me?" Stuart frowned.

"Nothing," C sighed. 

"Speaking of which, I, uh- you know I really feel a little horrible for this, but I am pretty concerned with the fact that he's in such close quarters with her, so- I mean, you said something about keeping an eye on the situation earlier."

K frowned.  What did that mean?

C smiled, and offered a few gloating, and very unhelpful, remarks: "I'm way ahead of you on that.  The systems are already in place."

"What kind of systems?" K asked.

"Systems to ensure that Bucky 13 doesn't lead our Ms. Samuels down the primrose path again," C chuckled.  He had only just now in this conversation coined the term "Bucky 13" as the official code name for Freddie, which K thought was a bit lowbrow and really disrespectful- but Stuart had absolutely no problem with it. 

"How do you intend to do that?"

"Oh, we have our ways," C sighed contentedly. "The ears are everywhere; we only have to flip a switch."

K shook his head at this increasingly blatant surveillance state.  "You planted a bug in her house?"

"No," C said.  "Like I said, the systems are already in place.  We're making use of what's available.  And anyway, what's it to you?"

Stuart rolled his eyes.  "Okay, knock it off, you two, before you start throwing things at the screen.  I trust her, but I don't trust him, that's the only reason I'm letting you guys do this.  I feel like a pretty lousy boyfriend for it, but I- I need to be sure nothing happens."

Insecure, K quipped inwardly.  He's not unjustified, though.  Man, if you, either of you, knew what I know- you especially, Stuart-  you wouldn't let that guy come within five hundred miles of her. 

"I'll be in with you guys tomorrow as soon as I can," Stuart told them.  "I have two big lectures to give, but those are early enough in the morning.  As for Bucky 13- I will make my presence known to him tomorrow night, so that will leave plenty of time to devote to getting Speck into an operational state."

"Don't forget, you have to clear transport with the higher authorities," C reminded him.  "We're in enough trouble as it is for the unauthorized trips taken on Friday."

"But that may take a couple of days," K chimed in with feigned concern.  "The bureaucracy, you know."

"All the more reason to send in the request early," Stuart dismissed. 

The conference ended soon after, with K jumping out first.  It almost hurt, how offhandedly these two younger men handled his input, when K had been Stuart's leg up into the field in the first place.  It was a cutthroat world, especially now, this globalized society.  It had its perks, for sure, this oneness with the rest of the planet.  But it certainly didn't allow for anything but skin-deep loyalty half the time.

I'm getting too old for this, he sighed.  Everyone tells me I ought to retire, pack up my stuff and move to Florida- they've been telling me that for twelve years.  And yet I stick with it.  What for?

But then he returned his attention to his tablet, changed the screen back to the data he had been looking over before the video call.  He shook his head again, this time with a heavy sigh.  For K had been inspecting Freddie's medical charts from two nights before- and was not at all surprised by the results. 

He was breaking protocol simply by reading them; these were confidential documents reserved for much higher authorities than he.  For K was only a modest scientist with a not-so-modest salary based out of Rutgers, with underground connections to  cross-continuum interference research.  Not even Stuart had the credentials to dip into the health records of property of the underground scientific community.

But K wasn't concerned.  He'd already passed the point of no return, the minute he gave them to Julia without permission- anyone's permission.  This very possibly could have been a suicide venture, jeopardizing his credibility, his pension, his tenure, his everything.  It was a high risk, a fifty-fifty shot between success and failure. 

To him, friends, true friends, were worth any risk.

He picked up his phone to send one more text to Julia, hoping she saw it before she left for work tomorrow morning.  And then he went to bed.

But not before he mused silently, Hm.  Maybe that's what for.