Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Author's Note: So….remember when I said it would never take more than a month to update again?...I'm sorry. I had a lot of issues with this chapter again, mainly due to the fact that Reid's proving that he's from the past comes off as…very convenient. But, as that is not a priority for the story; I just needed to get it out of the way without wasting too much time on it. So I apologize for that. That's the bad news. The good news is that this is the last of the exposition chapters! Thanks for sticking with me through all this crap!

A Dream If There Ever Was One

Chapter Three

"I'm sorry. What?"

"Time travel? It doesn't exist."

"Oh. Okay."

"You're taking this rather well."

"So I am. I'm pretty sure I'm still in shock. It's been a stressful morning."

"Do you need to sit down or something? You don't look too good."

"I'm just a little dizzy. I'm sure I'll be fine in a min-"

Reid opened his eyes to see Garrus staring intently at him with those jet-black eyes. He was never going to get used to that. Did he even blink? That was just creepy.

"What just happened?" He asked as he sat up in the bed he was now sprawled across.

"You, uh, passed out."

"Well, that's embarrassing."

And then it all came rushing back to him…again. No time travel. No way back home.

"Do you have a paper and pen or maybe a whiteboard?" He jumped off the bed, beginning to pace. "Do you even have paper in the future?"

"Um, sure we do, but-"

Reid's mind was finally starting to work at its normal speed. "If we can just understand the nature of this particular space-time continuum and the means by which I was able to access it, we can figure out how I did so and reverse-engineer the process, so I can get back…if that's even possible. I mean, Einstein theorized about the possibility of time traveling into the future, but retrograde time travel seems entirely impossible based on what we know about the laws of conservation of mass-energy. Unless those have changed. Have they? Changed, I mean? No, that's-"

"Impossible?" Garrus asked, following Reid's pacing with his eyes. "Spencer, I think you need to calm down."

Reid wheeled on him. "Calm down? I just woke up two hundred years in the future, in an entirely different galaxy, and, oh, yeah, aliens exist; I think I'm well within my rights to freak out."

"So, I take it you're no longer in shock…"

Reid continued muttering to himself, running as many calculations as he could think of in his head.

"This is going to be fun," Garrus said under his breath.

Reid glared at him. "Well, excuse me for ruining your morning, Inspector Vakarian." He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm not handling myself very well right now."

"Understandably. What can I do right now that would help you? I mean, I don't know anything about time travel, but-"

"Could you give me a full background of the past two hundred years, specifically any important scientific advancements that might be pertinent? Oh, and I'd love to know the position and history of humanity in the galactic political arena, although I suppose that's a bit superfluous."

"Um, I-"

"You're right; that would take way too long. Do you have books?"

"Books?"

"Yeah. It'll be a lot faster." Reid caught Garrus's confused expression. "I read 20,000 words a minute…I guess I'm kind of a genius?" Reid shrugged.

"Kind of?"

"I mean, I'm certifiably a genius and have an I.Q. of 187, but announcing it doesn't seem to endear me to many people," Reid said, fidgeting intently with the omni-tool band on his arm.

"You can download anything you want onto that." Garrus nodded to Reid's omni-tool. "Anything in the archives or the public records. That should tell you everything you want to know. Here, let me show you."

Reid knew that he shouldn't be feeling as excited as he did, but a little part of him couldn't dream of anything better than exploring the archives from the future. It was only natural to be curious.

"And you can input search criteria over here, and this button will take you back to the menu screen." Garrus stood up and glanced at the door. "Are you gonna be alright for a little bit? It's just…I need to talk to my superior. I'm not exactly sure what we do next, in case the whole reverse-engineering doesn't work out."

"Hm?" Reid didn't look up from his reading. "Oh. Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Time travel? Are you serious, Garrus?" a new voice asked as the clinic door slid open. "You could have told me before I came all the way down here."

Reid looked up to see Garrus accompanied by another alien – no they were called turians, and they weren't even only alien race humanity had encountered.

"I'm sorry, Executor, but if I had, you wouldn't have come at all."

"You're right about that. This is a colossal waste of my time." He snapped his eyes over to Reid with avian precision and Reid hurried to look as though he were absorbed in his reading. But how was he supposed to abstain from eavesdropping if they were going to have this conversation five feet from him.

"I believe him," Garrus blurted out. "I know it's crazy, but I do."

The other turian sighed and put a hand Garrus's shoulder. "Garrus, I know I've been working you pretty hard lately. What with the Ardat-Yakshi case, you haven't had a break in two months. I know that. And you've been working even harder now that she's dropped off our radar. I just can't have you fall apart on me right now. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and get some sleep?"

"I'm not falling apart, Pallin, and I'm not having some sleep-deprived delusion either. I told you I had proof-"

"A gun you saw twenty years ago that you couldn't even track down if you wanted to?"

"I know what I saw." Garrus folded his arms against his chest.

"Even if it were true, you know it isn't enough to compel an investigation. I need to get back to headquarters. Go home, Garrus."

As the door slid open once more, Garrus asked, "What I had more proof?"

Executor Pallin stopped and turned around slowly in the doorway. "I don't think his testimony," he shot another glance at Reid, "is going to convince me."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then, what?" Time travel isn't real. I'm done-"

"I know an antiques dealer, a volus, who specializes in human artifacts. He's helped me out on a few cases in the past. He could say definitively if his belongings are the real thing."

Executor Pallin sighed again. "You aren't going to drop this until I say yes, are you?"

"No, sir."

Even though Reid couldn't see his face, he just knew he was smirking.

"You're a stubborn son of a bitch, Vakarian."

"I thought that's why you promoted me."

Executor Pallin laughed. "Well, get that volus over here. I mean, this can't get any more ridiculous."

"Just give me a minute," Garrus said, pulling up a holographic menu on his omni-tool.

Executor Pallin looked back over at Reid, who waved sheepishly.

The next fifteen minutes were excruciating. Executor Pallin seemed to be thinking twice about his decision to stay, and subsequently spent the entire time glaring at either the door or the clock. Garrus was silently fidgeting with a tool on a nearby table, consciously not looking at the Executor. Reid was pretending to be fascinated by the public record he was reading.

Just as Reid was about to offer a statistic on awkward silences, the door slid open, and a tiny creature fully-encased in metal was clasping the frame, completely out of breath.

"Inspector Vakarian," he said, trying to remain upright. "As soon as I got your message, I ran all the way from the Presidium. Those elevators can be so slow. Someone should really do something about that that. Anyways, you said you had human artifacts."

"Well, sort of. Ponra, I want you to meet Dr. Spencer Reid."

"How rude of me!" Ponra bustled over to shake Reid's hand. "I should have introduced myself the minute I came in. Ponra Caan, best antiques dealer and most eminent scholar of human antiquities on the Citadel, if I do say so myself."

Reid smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Caan."

"Please, call me Ponra. So, did you dig up these artifacts yourself? You're a doctor, correct?"

"I'm not that kind of doctor." Reid looked to Pallin and Garrus over Ponra's head, wondering how much he should reveal. "Let's just say…they've been in my family for a very long time."

"Well, don't mean to be rude, but why are we standing here talking when I could be looking at them?"

"Right." Reid poured the contents of his bag out on the bed once more.

Ponra looked at Reid's belongings with the kind of glee that Reis reserved solely for his first cup of coffee in the morning.

"You weren't kidding, Garrus," Ponra said without turning around, twirling a pen between his mechanized fingers. "These are incredible."

"But are they real?" Executor Pallin asked.

"In due time, sir, in due time. But I can already tell they're very peculiar."

"In what way?" Reid asked with feigned confusion.

"For one thing, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, Dr. Reid, but you've been scammed."

"Scammed?"

"There's absolutely no way that these items are as old as you say." He held up one of Reid's notebooks and showed them the crisp white pages. "You see, there's no yellowing, none of the ink has faded. I'd say this is no more than a week old."

Well, Reid thought, it wasn't.

"So, you're saying it's a forgery?" Executor Pallin asked with some derision.

"If it is, it's a very good one, Executor. Take this pencil, for instance." He held it up for Pallin's examination. "A forger wouldn't have used graphite for the tip. It only needs to be authentic enough to pass off to tourists or amateur collectors; he wouldn't waste the time to get all of the details right. I think we're looking at extremely well-made, legal replicas."

"Replicas?" Reid tried to keep the concern from creeping into his voice. What was he going to do if they didn't believe him?"

"I'm afraid so." Ponra began stacking Reid's books on the left side of the bed, uncovering his wallet in the process. "What's this?" he asked, picking it up with fascination. "Is this…" He flipped it over and over, opening it and staring at it like it were the most amazing this he'd ever seen. "Inspector Vakarian, what sort of game are you playing with me?"

"What do you mean?" Garrus asked, coming over to examine the wallet.

"I know, my driver's liscense photo is atrocious," Reid joked, almost out of reflex.

"The detail is incredible! Look at the stitching on the inside seam. But, there's no signature."

"Signature?" Reid asked.

"Every artist has one. Work this authentic would certainly be signed…" Ponra began hurriedly emptying the contents of Reid's wallet onto the bed before shoving it into Garrus's face. "What does this smell like to you?"

"What?" Garrus asked, trying to pull away, but Ponra was too persistent.

"Please, just smell it, Inspector Vakarian."

Garrus sniffed, but looked up in confusion. "I don't know."

"Dr. Reid, could you please inform the officers what this smells like?" Ponra wheeled about dramatically.

"Leather? I don't-"

"Leather!" Ponra exclaimed. "I knew it from the minute I touched it. The texture is unmistakable." Ponra's eyes narrowed. "The question is, how do you know that?"

"What do you mean? It's just leather. I don't understand what the big deal about that is."

"The 'big deal' is that the only people who craft wallets anymore use synthetic leather, believe me: I know them all personally. In order for this to be real leather, it would have to be over one hundred years old, but it's in too good of a condition for that…" Ponra looked Reid right in the eye. "Where did you get this, Dr. Reid?"

Reid took a deep breath, looking to Garrus for support.

Garrus gave him an encouraging nod.

"Earth…roughly two hundred years ago."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Are you saying that you believe him, Mr. Caan?" Executor Pallin asked with some amount of skepticism. "Just like that?"

"Firstly, it's Ponra. Second, of course I do. There's no other explanation."

"And there isn't any chance that there may be some replicator out there that you don't know of who uses real leather?"

Garrus shot Pallin a look.

"I'm just covering our bases." Pallin shrugged.

"If you'll excuse my saying so," Ponra began without looking up from the wallet, "I knew they were real the minute I saw them. I am an expert, after all."

"Time travel was really the first thing you thought of?" Reid caught Pallin's eye and quickly added. "Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Certainly not!" Ponra laughed. "I'm not crazy. But when you think about it, it's the only explanation that makes any kind of sense." He nudged Reid in the stomach. "I just wanted to get you to admit it. Now, if you don't mind, I'd love to get a good look at these without all of you scrutinizing me, eh?"

"Oh, sure; let me just get out of you way." Reid reluctantly moved toward Executor Pallin.

"Are you convinced now, Executor Pallin?" Reid asked, trying to give him the most encouraging smile possible.

"Maybe." Pallin shook his head. "Well, as much as you can believe someone as…eccentric as Mr. Caan. But, why not?"

"We need to bring him to the Council," Garrus said.

"I don't think the Council has time for this."

"You don't think the Council would want to meet the only person who has ever time traveled?"

"Well, that's only if they take our – and his-" he indicated Ponra, "word for it."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Ponra said, betraying his obvious eavesdropping, "Tevos and I go way back."

"You know Councillor Tevos?" Executor Pallin asked with some incredulity.

"Quite well, in fact. We used to go out before you all were even born…well, not you, Dr. Reid." Ponra laughed through his breathing apparatus.

"So, you're saying that I should call them up and tell them that I have proof that we've met our first time traveler?" Executor Pallin asked.

"Um, essentially?" Reid replied, realizing how ridiculous that actually sounded.

"Okay." Executor Pallin made to exit. "I really can't believe this is happening, but I'll come back when I know something."

After he had left, Reid turned to Garrus. "Do you think this is going to work? Getting an audience with the Council, I mean. And, even if we do see them, there isn't exactly anything they can do for me, is there?"

"Let's worry about one think at a time, okay? Like, maybe getting you dressed?"

Reid looked down at his grey sweatsuit. "Oh, right. Ponra, is there any chance I could have my pants back now?"

"Hmm?" Ponra turned around, flipping through pages of Reid's journal. "I suppose I have taken up too much of your time already. Please do let me know when you meet with the Council; I'd like to help however I can."

"We appreciate that," Garrus answered for the both of them.

"Well, it truly has been a pleasure, Dr. Reid," Ponra extended his hand to shake Reid's again, but looked up in surprise when Reid placed his wallet in it instead.

"I think you should have it," Reid said. "It seems like it means a lot more to you than it does to me."

Ponra stared at him in amazement. "I don't know what to say. I-"

Reid smiled. "Hey, if everything goes well with the Council, I can buy a new one tomorrow…so to speak."

"Thank you! Thank – I need to get back to my lab to study this – if you ever need anything else!" Ponra was hurrying to the door. "See you later, Inspector Vakarian,"

"That was nice of you," Garrus said after the door slid shut again.

Reid shrugged. "If I'm here, I don't really need it, do I?" He collected the strewn articles of clothing from the bed. "Um, Garrus? I need to change…"

"Oh! Yeah…I'll be right outside."

After changing, Reid sat down on the dividing wall not sure if he was ready to let Garrus back in again. Even a genius needed time to process.

The thing was, Reid didn't do helpless very well. He supposed that was a genius trait; he was very much in the habit of solving his own problems. But now, he was waiting at the mercy of some intergalactic government who would likely be of as little help to him as Garrus or Executor Pallin. And then what? Spend the rest of his life trying to replicate whatever freak accident sent him here? There had to be a better way.

What Reid really needed was a goal; something he could focus on that he could accomplish. One thing at a time; Garrus was right about that.

Unfortunately, he had never been much good at that either.

"Um, Spencer?" Garrus asked through the door. "It's been over ten minutes. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Garrus re-entered the clinic and joined him in sitting on dividing wall. "I don't envy you right now."

"I don't envy myself either," Reid said, trying to make a joke, but not quite feeling it.

Garrus looked like he was going to say something else, but thought better of it. They both fell silent for a few minutes.

"So," Garrus said finally, "tell me about yourself."

"What?" Reid stopped fidgeting with his watch to look up at Garrus.

"Well, other than your being a doctor, I don't know anything about you."

"Oh, I'm not that kind of doctor, either," Reid explained. "I have three ."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven."

"So, you weren't kidding about being a genius?" Garrus chuckled. "What do you do for a living then, Dr. Reid?"

"I catch serial killers, actually."

"You're in law enforcement, too?"

"Not exactly. I work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the F.B.I. Oh…the F.B.I. probably doesn't exist anymore," he said, looking down again.

"Serial killers, huh?" Garrus said, trying to change the subject. "Maybe you could help me with one of my cases."

"Oh, yeah?" Reid asked. "What kind of serial killers do they have in the future?"

"Just your usual crime bosses, deranged elcor, krogan. But this one's a bit tricky. The killer's an Ardat-Yakshi; that's all we know."

"An Ardat-Yakshi? Is that an…alien? I didn't read anything about them."

Garrus laughed. "You can say 'alien', Spencer. You're not gonna offend anyone. But, yeah; an Ardat-Yakshi's an asari, but mutated. The asari don't like to mention them much."

"Why not?"

"Because their gene mutation causes them to kill everyone they meld with - like sex with more psychic-ness – and they're addicted to it. That's what makes them so difficult to catch. They kill by overloading their partner's nervous system, so they're virtually untraceable. Besides that, it's impossible to know-"

But Reid's mind was already racing. An asari and overloaded nervous systems. There was no way…But, if there were, he hadn't even considered that he wasn't the only one time-traveling.

"I think I met her."

"What? Here on the Citadel?"

"No," Reid said, gaining momentum, "On Earth, in 2007. My team and I were hunting a serial killer who killed by causing aneurysms in her victims. I tried to play the bait, but I ended up meeting this strange blue woman who tried to drug me, or use mind powers to get me to go home with her."

Garrus's face was one of absolute shock. "You resisted her?"

"Yeah." Reid shrugged. "But that's not the point. I chased her into this backroom and she knocked me over. Then she pulled out a small device and used her, what are they called? Biotics? Yeah, she used her biotics on it. I didn't know what it was at the time. But I grabbed onto her, and then I woke up here." Reid waited for Garrus to catch on.

"Are you saying she had a time travel device?"

"What other explanation could there be for your serial killer being in my time and my ending up here? It's a little too much of a coincidence. At the very least, she may be the one person in the galaxy who knows how I can get home."

Garrus grinned, beginning to type some things on his omni-tool. "It's only been a few hours; she must still be on the Citadel. Pallin is just going to love this."

So, all they had to do was track down the most dangerous serial killer the Citadel had seen in years and hope she would be cooperative enough to help them out…

Well, at least it was a start.