Chapter Text
April 1990
Mircalla Morgan is born to Lilita Morgan and Samuel Karnstein, an upper-class family. Lilita is a hot-tempered woman, passionately in love with Samuel.
Samuel is a calm, warm man.
She owns a research company that has its fingers in different pies, but begins specializing
He is also a time traveler, a carrier of a genetic disorder that causes temporal displacement, mostly beyond his control. His mother before him had it, and taught him from the age of six how to use mindfulness and inner peace to prevent jumps from being as frequent and erratic. When he began displaying symptoms of his condition during puberty, his traveling was merely a small nuisance.
Samuel and Lilita agree that when their child reaches the age of six, he will pass on this knowledge.
January 1991
Laura Hollis is born to Sherman and Eileen Hollis, a middle-class family living within their means. Eileen is a woman who chases adventure and treats everyone she meets with kindness. Sherman is a devoted, open man who errs on the side of overprotection but recognizes one’s ability to depend on themselves.
Hours after being born, Laura bursts out of her swaddle and rolls out of it, leading her shocked parents to declare they’re definitely going to have their hands full.
December 1995
Mircalla, five years old, sits in the passenger’s seat beside her father, who is smiling fondly as his beaming daughter belts out a classic rock song with him.
“ I love rock n' roll, ” he sings, pretending to hold a microphone in his hand. He lowers it and turns it towards her.
“ So put another dime in the jukebox, baby! ” she belts out, a forceful voice coming out of her small body.
“ I love rock n' roll, ” he sings along with the radio.
They both do fist pumps and she does a little air guitar move he taught her as soon as she could stand. “ So come and take your time and dance with meee! ” they continue together.
He starts laughing and she giggles, hugging her with his free hand before he returns it to the steering wheel to make a turn.
It’s a cold winter night, but the roads are clear and an earlier rainstorm has cleared all the clouds in the sky. Stars are shimmering and the moon is full and as Mircalla glances up through the windshield, it feels like the world is just meant for this moment, for her and her father to share.
After all, they’re on their way to their favorite spot to watch the meteor shower. A love of the galaxy is one of the many things that bonds her with her father.
Suddenly, she hears a ringing in her ears. It quickly grows in intensity and she winces, clutching it in pain.
“Cupcake? Are you okay?” her father asks, keeping his eye on the winding road.
“Ow, the sound hurts,” she whines.
He frowns, realizing what’s happening to her-- albeit at a very young age. “Buckle up, creampuff. I’ll pull over and then we can--”
The car hits a patch of black ice as he’s going through the turn and the tires skid, sending the car through an awkward spin and slamming it front-first into the giant metal divider.
But before the skidding even occurs, the high-pitched ringing grows louder in Mircalla’s ears and her body tingles. She clamps her eyes closed and it feels like her entire existence has been pulled apart and instantly put back together.
When she cracks her eyes open, she stares around her in confusion.
I’m at home ?
And I’m naked?
Realizing she’s standing without clothes in the hallway near her parents’ bedroom, she starts to head over to her bedroom. But then she passes by the calendar her mother meticulously marks off every day she’s home as she teaches Carmilla the months of the year and how to read dates in general.
November?
She frowns and begins counting the squares before her.
That was… five weeks ago!
“ Buttercup, are you coming down for breakfast? ” her father’s voice comes from downstairs. “ If you get here before your mother comes home from her flight, we can add extra chocolate chips to your pancakes! ”
Before she can even wrap her mind around what’s happening, the high-pitched ringing starts again and her body feels like it’s being split apart.
The next thing she knows, she’s back where—and when-- she had been when she left her father’s side-- still without clothes, and several feet behind the crashed car. A woman in her late twenties is standing beside the car, weeping. She’s wearing clothes too big for her and she wipes at her cheek with a long sleeve.
Mircalla walks up to the woman, who seems both startled and not surprised by her sudden appearance.
Sirens can be heard in the distance.
“Hi,” the woman says sadly. “Was this your father?”
Mircalla frowns. “I-Is he… Is he okay?”
The woman swallows hard and slowly removes her backpack, pulling out a small shawl and wraps it around Mircalla’s shivering form. She rubs her carefully, trying to warm her up.
Kneeling before her, the woman looks her in the eyes. She holds up Mircalla’s clothes, which had been left behind in the front passenger seat. “Did you just go five weeks back in time? Hear your father ask you to come down for breakfast for extra chocolate chips on your pancakes?”
Mircalla eyes widen and she nods.
The woman sighs, her eyes sad. “First of all… Your dad… he’s…” She takes a deep breath. “He’s dead. You understand what that means, right? Like your cat, Bagheera?”
Mircalla starts to cry. “Yes.”
Tears roll down the woman’s face, too. She starts helping Mircalla get re-dressed as quickly as possible before wrapping the shawl around her again.
“But, I don’t understand ,” she wails. “I-I was in the car with my daddy, and then I wasn’t, and I heard him calling me for pancakes. And now I’m here and-and there are no pancakes, and he’s…”
The woman swallows hard. “Sweetheart, you time-traveled. This is the first time you’ve done it, but unfortunately, it won’t be the last.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m you. From the future. I’ve been where you are, and I know you’re scared, and confused and… well, unfortunately, that’s gonna be most of your life.”
“Y-You’re me?” Mircalla sniffles and lets out a sob and the woman kneels before her, eyes kind.
“Yes and… And sometimes this time traveling thing will feel like a curse. You can’t control it. You can’t control where or when you go, and how long you’re there. You’ll jump around in your life a lot and you won’t be able to… you can’t really change anything important.”
The woman looks at the car beside them, the sirens growing louder.
“You’ll feel powerless, and you never show up with anything. But I promise, older version of Us will teach you whatever they can you help you survive. You’ll learn to pick locks and steal things and almost never get caught.”
The woman winks and offers a hollow chuckle.
“A lot of times, these jumps are triggered by stress, so try to minimize that—think of the stars, or our favorite books. The way dad’s pancakes smelled. That kind of stuff.”
“This sounds scary,” Mircalla whimpers, and the woman pulls her in for a hug.
She nods. “It is. And it’s lonely. But…” The woman pulls away, tapping Mircalla lightly on the nose. “It won’t always be. You’ll meet someone who makes you feel like you belong , like there’s always a home for you, no matter where or when you are. Like you matter. Like you deserve better. I promise.”
Mircalla sniffles and wipes her cheek, but seems visibly calmer.
Flashing lights appear now and the woman smirks. “One last thing. Tell the nice police officers that you got out of the car after the accident, okay? Some people don’t understand time-traveling… and, well, you’ll learn which ones you can trust.”
“What about my mommy?” Mircalla asks.
The woman looks at her sadly. “You can try. Maybe you’ll have better luck with her than I did.”
She reaches out and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Little Miss Karnstein, you’re gonna have a wild life ahead of you,” the woman says, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “And… You. Will. Be. Okay.”
With that, the woman disappears right in the front of Mircalla, who watches as her future self visibly vanishes before her.
A police car pulls up behind her and the drive door opens and closes as footsteps rapidly approach Mircalla.
“Are you okay? Honey, are you okay?”
Mircalla turns, tears still flowing down her cheeks. “No, but I will be.”