Archive of Our Own ^beta

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I had always wondered what it would be like if I hadn’t met Marie. I know it would be hell, I can safely say that. She’s everything to me. I…I love her. I mean it. However, now’s not a good time for reminiscing. We were in the middle of fighting Napoleon and his army, who had just gotten their hands on a time device that would allow them to restart their previous plot of raising the Hanging Gardens.

I felt like I was on my last legs, even though I wasn’t dying at all. I had stayed up all night studying for a test, only for this to happen! I sure hope Madame Anne cancelled that test. I wouldn’t have stayed awake for it even if I wanted to. Anyway, Napoleon was rambling about his new plan, which I promptly ignored. I should have listened though, because as of now…we were in a strange black hole. Then it hit me…Me and Marie were going back in time.

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I woke up in bed, startled and sweating. Phew, just a dream. Fondue looked at me concerned, but I pet him and told him I was ok. After feeding him, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, the usual stuff, I walked out the door. Ready to face Napoleon. Or..the test. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, honestly.

I walked down the street and felt a huge wave of deja vu. Much like when I stole the bracelet, everyone the day after was reading the newspapers for details of my heist. Odd..I wasn’t pulling a heist today. I had already stolen what I needed and various paintings last week. Huh, maybe it was some other new headliner this week.

I kept walking and walking, and reached Auban’s shop. I greeted him, but noticed Bernard working on..another master instrument? But, he said he was only making one. This is getting spooky. I went on my way and noticed the Fête de Paris posters and flags. Ok, I’m officially creeped out! I ran to the nearest trashcan and fished a newspaper out. I stared at it in shock and horror. The headline was about me…stealing the bracelet.

I dragged myself all the way home, and sat down on my bed. Staring down and shaking, I realized I wasn’t dreaming. I was really back where I started. Back where it all started.

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What was I gonna do?! What could I do?! I’m stuck here, and chances are this could just keep happening! It could just keep resetting and resetting…wait! I remembered in movies, I have to do everything that I did, exactly as I did it! Otherwise the timeline would be messed up real bad! Ok, just remember Raphie..do everything you did, as you did it. No problem.

Except…it is a problem! I don’t remember everything I did! I barely remember what I ate for breakfast! Did I even eat breakfast? See, there’s my point! I sat down, defeated. However…like always, Marie came to the rescue. I just remembered a piece of trivia about the time device! Marie found a passage in a book explaining that we didn’t have to do the same thing. As long as we defeated Napoleon, again, and went back to the future, the original timeline and events that lead up to it would be restored! It would be exactly how I remembered it! Thank god..for a second there, I thought I’d have to make new memories of Marie. Not that I’d mind. But, I actually like the ones I already made. It was perfect.

It was decided! I went out again and ran to Marie’s convent. Since we both got flung into the past, she would definitely be looking for me too! When I got there, I walked through the the building and found her old room. Her things were here! Obviously she’s making sure not to raise any eyebrows. I sighed, I love how clever she is. I stood outside the door, waiting for her to come back. I waited, and waited…and when I looked up, like an angel from heav-well, Babylon I guess..She stood in front of me, staring.

Too happy to even think, I ran and gave her a hug. I spoke to her gently. “ I thought I would never see you again! You were gone, and I was just stuck wandering around without you! It was the worst day of my life! “

Unfortunately, the reunion was cut short, as I got a swift punch to the face. I fell backwards, and Josette stood above me, fuming. Well, this wasn’t abnormal. What she said to me was, though.

“ Back off, creep! I keep telling you boys that Marie doesn’t want any of you! Much like a fairytale, she’s waiting for her one true love! “ She held Marie protectively, and I stared at them, confused. I got up, and spoke to her.

“ Whoa, you got it all wrong! I know Marie! Trust me, I always walk her home! She likes stopping by the ice cream parlor on the way, too! She always gets cookie dough and gets brain-freeze and then she has to lean her head on my shoulder to feel better! Well, so she says. Hehe.. “

They stared at me like I was insane. I felt insane. Why wasn’t Marie backing me up on this? She got stuck here in the past too! Doesn’t she remember? I was about to speak again, but Marie cut me off.

“ I don’t know you. I’m sorry. I only do that stuff with Josette, she’s my best friend. She knows that..but how do you? “

My heart sank.

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I was about to cry. Even though I was trying so hard not to, I couldn’t stop my voice from cracking.

“ Y-you.. don’t know me? At all..? “

Marie shook her head. She answered me. And despite loving the sound of her voice..I hated what she said. “ No..I’m so sorry. “

I nodded, not speaking another word, and went home. I collapsed on my bed and started sobbing. She really doesn’t know me. She doesn’t remember anything about me, or what we’ve done together. I could feel my heart shatter, I could feel the whole the world stop.

I stared the ceiling for a good while, wishing for this to end. I wanted to go back. I wanted to go home with Marie. I wanted to hold her and never let her go. I just…wanted to be with her. It was painful.

Fondue jumped on my bed and started licking my face, much to my chagrin. I will say..it helped. I pet him and spoke to him quietly. “ At least you haven’t forgotten me, boy. “ I gave him a kiss on his head, and fell asleep after cuddling with him for a bit. He really is man’s best friend.

I woke up the next morning, feeling awful. I felt so depressed, in a way I haven’t felt in years. I fed Fondue, ate a small bit of food, and then sat down on the couch. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not today, maybe not ever. I turned on the TV, but I wasn’t watching it. Just staring, with my mind blank. Then, I heard a knock at the door. It was probably Michel, so I spoke through the door.

“ Go away, Michel, I’m tired. Of everything, and you at the moment. “

An angry voice shouted at me. I jumped back and recognized the voice. “ You better shut that mouth of yours before I rip it off, red-haired jackass! “ ….It was Charlie. Wait..Charlie?!

I opened the door and she stood in front of me, glaring. She shoved past me, and stood in my house. She spoke after a bit.

“ Alright, Phantom! I’ve had it! You’re under arrest for…for..time travel! Yeah, that’s it! Time travel is illegal! “

I stood there and did nothing, which Charlie noticed. She spoke again.

“ Oi? Have you hit your head, mate? You look pale. “

I tackled her in a hug, much like how I did with Marie, except Charlie was repeatedly hitting my back, which I didn’t mind. Not one bit. I let her go, and even though I was surprised I was happy to see her, I was too happy to not express it!

“ I can’t believe it! You’re here! You remember me! You’re…putting handcuffs on me. Classic. “

Charlie slapped me on the head and yelled at me, again. “ Of course I remember you! You were the reason I was sent back in time with your dumbass! And Marie. And now, I have to rebuild my detective career from the ground up, again! “

I retorted. “ What career, in the future you still barely have one. “ She punched me again. I’m getting tired of getting assaulted. Back with the yelling, she went.

“ Shut it! Now, you’re going to explain everything to me! As of now, not anything that happens in the future. I know that already. “

And so, I explained everything to her. When I got here, how I figured out I was back in 2012, and…how Marie has forgotten me. Charlie seemed to get a little sad when I explained that to her. I’m happy to know she has feelings. Afterwards, we spoke about what we would do with all this. We devised a plan. We would take out Leonard Bonar early, but before that…I had to get Marie to help. I just hope I can get her to agree to this, and become friends with her again. I hope.

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We walked back to the convent. I was shaking, and Charlie was shoving me the whole time. She kept saying the plan over and over to remind me why I was there, but I wasn’t listening. I didn’t want to scare Marie. This was too weird. I couldn’t face her after I probably creeped her out last night. Alas, Charlie got me to her door. And I froze. Charlie knocked for me, and…oh. There she was again. My heart started pounding, but at least Marie recognized me. Kind of.

“ Oh! It’s you! The…ice cream know-it-all. As Josette calls you. Who’s your friend? “

Charlie spoke for me. “ I’m Charlie, private eye. We have some important information we must share with you. “

She pushed me in the room, despite me trying to run away, and sat me and herself down. Luckily, Josette wasn’t around. Marie offered us some snacks and shut the door, locking it as Charlie had instructed. She sat, and Charlie began explaining.

“ Marie..you are in terrible danger. Raphael was here last night on..my accord. Though, you must excuse him. He..mistakes a lot of blondes for his..ex-girlfriend. He’s even done it to me. He’s a bit..heartbroken. “

I glared daggers at Charlie, who smirked and sipped her tea. Marie replied to that, and I was embarrassed. “ Oh dear..I’m so sorry! No wonder you were all upset! Though..your ex does the exact same things as me. How odd. “

I spoke through gritted teeth. “ You have no idea. “ Charlie flicked me to shut me up.

Charlie finished telling her everything, albeit leaving important plot points out, and Marie agreed to come with us. She looked so scared..it made me worried. We went to Charlie’s old hideout, an abandoned police cruiser garage, and started even more planning. I’m seriously so tired. Marie watched us, curiously. I could feel myself falling for her all over. I loved the feeling, but..I felt hurt that it probably wasn’t going to happen again. After a while, we got bor-tired, I mean tired, and we ordered dinner, and Charlie soon passed out. Me and Marie were the only ones up. Oh boy.

I didn’t speak. I just stared out the window. I heard footsteps behind me, and then noticed Marie had sat down next to me. I gulped, and felt nervous. It’s so hard to keep my love for her away. God, I feel stupid. She soon spoke quietly to me, and I started to calm down almost instantly.

“ I promise, you didn’t creep me out. Well, it was odd that you hugged me. But, I wouldn’t doubt if I did know you, actually. I meet a lot of people. And I make a lot of friends from doing violin recitals. It’s entirely possible I’ve met you. And…I’m so sorry about your girlfriend..she must’ve been something special for you to be so upset over losing her. “

I started getting choked up, but I talked to her anyway. “ She was an angel. I know..you shouldn’t dwell on the past, but..I loved her. I still do. As for knowing me…maybe you do. I only met you yesterday, but I can tell we’re gonna be good friends. Sorry for being weird yesterday, by the way. Can we..start over? “

She smiled at me and I felt butterflies. She answered. “ I’d like that a lot. “ She held out her hand, and I shook it. I introduced myself.

“ My name’s Raphael. It’s so nice to meet you. “

“ It’s nice to meet you too. “

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The next morning, we all had our jobs to do. Charlie was going to handle some of my jobs, like research. And me? I was going to steal the bracelet. This time, with Marie. I talked to Charlie privately and protested, but Charlie had purposely paired us up. As an amusement to her, and so that it got done quicker. I walked back to Marie and we went on our way. Except…she didn’t know I was Phantom R. She thinks we’re just going to the Louvre to get some info on Mesopotamia. This is going to be really hard.

We got in with ease, as it was daytime and it was open, of course, and walked to the exhibits. It’s a lot more crowded than I remembered. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the bracelet out in broad daylight, in front guards and people. Marie, however, after leaning against the wall to rest her feet for a bit, might have accidentally…hit the fire alarm. As she was leaning on her hand, naturally it slipped and hit the switch. Perfect timing as always, Marie!

The guard had us evacuate the building, and soon I had a plan. I had to lie to Marie, but it was necessary.

“ Ok, I know it was an accident and it’s ok. Besides, I..forgot something! And I need to go back in. You stay put, and don’t talk to anyone! “

Marie nodded, confused and worried because she had just accidentally committed a crime. I was so proud of her! I rushed to the security office, shut off the cameras, and I was ready to steal the bracelet, yet again. I snuck around every corner until I got there, and very carefully lifted the glass case that kept the bracelet safe. I lifted the bracelet up and put it on. I put the fake one in it’s place, put the glass case back over it, and climbed out the nearest window. Thankfully, no one saw me.

I ran back to Marie, and told her we needed to go. She agreed and told me it was best, as she didn’t want to get in trouble. I grinned. “ No worries, if anything, I’m the one who’s always in trouble! “ She stared at me, and for the first time since the future…I heard her laugh.

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We made it back to the garage and met up with Charlie, who was just sitting and reading..a lot of books. At least she was actually holding up her end of this plan. Marie sat down and caught her breath. I felt bad for making her run, but we needed to get out of there quickly. I sat down next to her and spoke quietly.

“ Hey, don’t feel bad. We got all the information we needed. You helped a lot. “

Marie raised an eyebrow at me. “ All I did was pull a fire alarm. We barely got anything? “

I chuckled. I know this was probably a bad move, but, I figured it was time to tell her. I showed her my arm, and she stared at it in shock. She stuttered. “ T-That’s..that’s the..Bracelet of Tiamat..why did you take it?! You could get arrested! “

I sighed, then took a deep breath. It was now or never. We had to get this over with quickly in order to get to Leonard first. Charlie didn’t say a word. She knew I had to tell her eventually. I spoke up. “ It…It was supposed to happen. I was supposed to take it. Also, the police couldn’t catch me with a glue trap! Hehe.. “

Marie stared and seemed to back away, which hurt me a bit. I continued nonetheless. “ I’m a thief. You know might know me. “ I shut my eyes, preparing for the worst. “ I-I’m…Phantom R.. “

Instead, I opened my eyes and she was still there. She was sitting there, shaken to her core. It wasn’t for long, because soon after, she started to ramble. Asking me questions, left and right. I tried to answer some, but she was talking a bit too fast. Something she does when she’s curious. It’s another one of my favorite things she does. Charlie eventually sat her down and had her take deep breaths. After a few more questions, it was silent. It took her a while to find the right question to ask me.

“ Why do you steal? What’s the point if you’re just going to return things? “

I wanted to tell her…but I couldn’t find my words. It was like I was choking on air. Charlie noticed this and cut in. “ Sorry, that’s a bit personal. It’s hard for him to talk about. “ She’s been talking for me a lot. Right now, I can appreciate that.

Marie said a small “ oh. “ and that was that. Charlie left the room to do more research, and once again, I was alone with Marie. I know Charlie’s doing this on purpose. Marie was sitting across from me on the couch while I sat in the chair. It was quiet. Waaaay too quiet. I did notice Marie was about to ask me something, I could tell. Instead, she just went to bed. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong. And I definitely hope that time device was right about not altering anything. Otherwise, my future is doomed.