"What's in the fridge, Barry?" Cyd asked as she entered the refurbished garage that served as Barry's science lab.

"Cyd," the intelligent teen said with a hint of exasperation. "I did not ask you and Shelby over to raid my refrigerator."

"What?" The blonde girl accompanying Cyd looked slightly offended. "I did not come here to raid your fridge." She went over to the nearest couch and made herself comfortable. "I'm on a diet."

"I'm not," the tomboyish brunette said happily as she plopped down on the couch next to Shelby, and began tearing the wrapping off the snack cake she'd raided from the refrigerator.

Barry kept adjusting the device on his work table and did not say anything else to the two young women at first.

"Still trying to give yourself time travel powers?" Shelby asked.

"Not at the moment," he answered. "Though it's only a matter of time before I recreate the accident that gave you two your abilities." He stopped working on his machine and turned to the girls. "And my new invention should produce valuable data that can help me with that goal, but more importantly, make time travel a little less hazardous for the two of you."

Naturally both Cyd and Shelby had their interest piqued by those words.

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked.

"If my calculations are correct, I've found a way to make your tachyons more stable."

Cyd shrugged. "And that means what?"

"It means that when you travel back to a time before you were born, you won't be subject to chronal identity degradation."

Cyd shrugged once more. "And that means what?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "It means, you won't be in danger of losing your memories and being trapped in the past."

"Really?" Shelby said excitedly. "That would be such a relief."

Cyd nodded in agreement. Most of the time jumps she and Shelby made were to the recent past or near future. In such cases, their minds would inhabit the bodies of their younger or older selves. If they traveled back to a time before their birth however, they would be physically transported to that era. Existing in a time outside of their natural lifespan however carried extra risks, as both girls had discovered when a trip to the 1970s had nearly ended in disaster. Because they were 'foreign' to that time period, their brains had tried to 'adapt' and made them believe they were natives of that time. In the process they nearly forgot not only their time travel abilities but their identities and their friendship.

Ever since that incident, whenever circumstances sent them traveling back before they were born, both girls made sure to never leave the other's side. That way they could remind one another of who they were if either of their memories started to become fuzzy.

"Just step over here," Barry directed his friends. "Prepare for a time jump...but only a very short one, thirty seconds into the past should be fine." He turned back to the machine. "But don't jump until I tell you to."

The girls waited while the science-minded teen activated his machine. When he did so, they noticed some familiar glowing particles appearing around them.

"Tachyons," Cyd said. "But we haven't done anything yet."

"No, my device is generating these, When you time jump, these tachyons should interact with the ones you generate and produce the desired result."

"Then should we jump now?" Shelby asked.

Barry checked his machine once more before answering. "I'd say...now."

As the girls joined hands and began their time jump however, Barry's eyes widened in alarm. The readings on his device were not even close to his projections.

"Wait-" he began.

But that was the only word he spoke before the room started spinning.

******'******

Roughly fifteen minutes after Barry had told his friends to start their time jump, the haze that had fallen over each of their minds faded. Though they had no way of knowing, they all reacted in exactly the same way at that moment.

They each wondered where they were.

They each looked around and saw they were alone.

And they each felt a sudden jot of anxiety surge through them as a sudden realization hit them. A realization that could be expressed in a simple thought.

I don't know who I am!

To be continued...

author's note: Please review. Feedback really helps me write. So tell me what you liked and what you didn't. Thanks.