A/N—Reminder that I don't own these characters and that all credit goes to the creators of "Big Time Rush."

So here's the new story I've been working on. Not a lot to say except I hope you like it! And thanks so much for the encouraging words. :)

March 2212

"Please have a seat, Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Drummond will join you shortly."

"Thank you," Logan replied automatically as he lowered himself into a chair, still unable to believe that he was in this room. He'd never even visited the White House as a tourist, yet for some unknown reason he was currently in an elegant salon (he thought that was what they called it, anyway) deep in the bowels of the building and waiting for the Chief of Staff to arrive. He fidgeted with his tie after scooting in toward the table.

"Can I get you a refreshment, sir? Perhaps some hot tea?"

How did this woman know that hot chamomile tea was exactly what he'd been craving in order to calm his nerves?

She was told that, Logan. They probably know all about you and have prepared your favorite salad. With pine nuts, because that's your ultimate salad topping.

What Logan didn't yet understand was why they might research him. Or do something crazy like invite him to the White House for lunch.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

"Chamomile, Mr. Mitchell?"

He wasn't surprised at all. "Yes."

"I'll be right back with that, sir."

Logan watched her stride out of the sunlit room, thinking it odd that with much of the wealthy population indulging themselves by purchasing machines to serve them rather than hiring actual people, the cream of the crop around here still used humans.

Humans can't be hacked, Logan. They can be bought and used for betrayal, but they can't be hacked and reprogrammed to kill the President. It's actually smarter.

He tried to ignore the presence of no less than three men surrounding him (though they did an admirable job of blending into the walls). He was sure each of them was armed and though one had caught his eye and nodded in a friendly manner, Logan suspected that the manner would become quite unfriendly at the slightest hint of danger from him.

Which was crazy since Logan was by all accounts a normal, everyday, somewhat boring in fact, person. The only thing extraordinary about him was his high IQ and the fact that he'd shaved years off his education to become one of the youngest professors to teach at a university. Logan had loved human anatomy and physiology from an early age, telling everyone he could how badly he wanted to be a doctor. It was his entire focus throughout school and he didn't let the fact that some people were choosing to trust machines over humans for diagnosis and treatment stop him.

What almost did stop him, though, was putting his knowledge to use in practice. Logan eventually discovered that he didn't like touching strangers, and being around those who were ill made him nervous. It fascinated him, but it also scared him, so he found a way to become part of the medical world without actually having to practice. While most went into medicine to heal people, Logan went into medicine to teach others how to heal people.

The passing on of knowledge. Teaching. That was his true gift.

How it had gotten him here in this room, in the White House...that much he would never understand.

Or more likely he would, as soon as Roger Drummond arrived to explain it.

The smooth white wooden door opened, and there was the man himself. He greeted Logan with a smile. "Mr. Mitchell, I hope I haven't kept you waiting long."

"No sir, I just arrived." Logan was sure the man knew that, but why not play the game? He stood up as the Chief approached the table.

"Please, sit. Relax." After a wave of his hand, Mr. Drummond took the chair across from Logan and offered that hand for a shake. "Roger Drummond, White House Chief of Staff."

"Logan Mitchell, but you know that." Logan shook hands.

"Doctor Logan Mitchell, yes?"

"Uh, yes. Doctor. But I don't practice. Though you probably know that as well."

"I do," the man nodded. "You really do look younger than your age. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a high school student."

But you do know better, don't you? "I get that a lot."

"Has Frannie offered you something to drink?"

"She did."

"Wonderful. Would you prefer to wait for your tea or shall I explain why you're here?"

Yep, he knows all about me. "Uh...that would be good. My curiosity is through the roof."

"Mr. Mitchell, I want to...or do you prefer Dr.?"

"I'm not picky."

The Chief nodded. "Mr. Mitchell, I want to make it clear that you're not in any kind of trouble. You've done nothing wrong. It's your medical knowledge we're interested in. Or rather your knowledge of medical history."

Logan said nothing, though it did help to know he wasn't about to be hauled off to prison.

"You teach History of Medicine at the university? Among other subjects pertaining to medical breakthroughs?"

"Yes."

"We've been told that you are a fount of knowledge on the history of medicine going back hundreds of years."

"That's why they put me in front of the class," Logan replied, opting for a joke. "But it's actually thousands of years. Healers have been an important part of society from the beginning of humanity."

"I imagine so."

Talk paused while Frannie brought in a tray containing not just tea and coffee, but also two salads. Logan wasn't surprised to see his was covered in his preferred dressing.

And pine nuts.

After thanking her, Logan reached for his tea. It was the perfect temperature, just cool enough to avoid scalding his mouth. It also did the job of helping him to relax.

A bit.

Mr. Drummond wasted no time digging into his salad. Always self-conscious about eating in front of others (probably because he rarely did), Logan took a little more care lifting it to his mouth, and wow. It was fantastic.

"Tell me about yourself, Mr. Mitchell."

Like you don't know. "There's not much to say, really. I graduated from high school early, followed through to medical school, obtained my degrees. Now I teach at the university."

"What about outside of work? Are you seeing someone?"

Logan's eyes popped open wider. Why the hell would the White House possibly want to know about his love life? "I'm...no. It's just me."

"And you live alone?"

"I do, but I don't see what interest that might be of anyone's."

"Are you...close to anyone?"

The man kept shoveling salad into his mouth while Logan's appetite shriveled up. He set down his fork. "Look, Mr. Drummond, I'm pretty sure you know everything there is to know about me. Can you just tell me why you care and why I'm here?"

"Please call me Roger. And you're wrong, we don't know everything about you. We only know what we can see on record."

"Yet you know how I like my salad."

"Well, that's easy. You order delivery almost every night. Technically, what you like to eat is on record."

Logan let out a sigh. "You're not answering my question."

"No, and I'm sorry about that, but I thought you might like to enjoy a good lunch before I chase away your appetite."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that."

Roger nodded again. "Okay. I need you to sign something first."

"If it's a promise to never talk about anything I see or hear today, you've got my solemn oath."

"It's easy to say that now. Once I tell you everything..." The man reached inside his blazer and came out with a folded sheet of paper and a pen.

"Wow, you guys really are old school around here. Paper's hard to come by."

"We do a lot of recycling at the White House. And we prefer things that can't be tampered with or altered on a screen. Read it before you sign it."

Logan did. It was a typical non-disclosure agreement, only instead of a threat to sue if breached, Logan would be facing an extremely long prison sentence. "So if I tell anyone what we talk about today, that's it for me? I'm jailed for life?"

"At the very least."

Though Roger smiled in a cordial manner, the seriousness of his words could be seen in the cold black gaze staring back.

Logan swallowed. "And if I just...walk away right now? Without knowing?"

"You go back to your life. This meeting never happened. And we choose someone else."

"For...what exactly?"

"You'll never know if you don't sign that paper," Roger shrugged. He forked another bite of lettuce into his mouth as if Logan's choice meant nothing to him.

It was tempting. All he had to do was stand up and walk out of this room. They'd fly him back to his apartment, and he'd have missed a day of classes for...well, he'd never know what for.

And that was the exact reason he couldn't do it. Logan's blessing and curse was curiosity, the need to know. It made him an incredible researcher. It got him through school.

Could he leave here today without knowing why the freaking government wanted to talk to him? Nope. He'd regret it for the rest of his life.

You might also regret hearing what they have to say.

This was true. But then at least he'd know.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Logan reached for the pen and scribbled his name at the bottom of the paper. That in itself was a novelty.

Hey Ma, I wrote on a real piece of paper today! With a pen!

Of course, his mother had died just the year before and Logan had no other family. There really wasn't anyone to share that exciting news with.

Once signed, the paperwork was snatched away and refolded to disappear along with the pen into Roger's tailored suit. "Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. We appreciate your willingness to help protect the privacy of the United States."

"You might as well call me Logan. It's not like I'm a stranger to you or anything, right? You know everything about me."

"Not exactly, because you never answered my question. Is there anyone you're close to?"

Why bother lying at this point? "No. I mean, I talk to colleagues at school, and my students. But outside of that, no. It's just me."

"Good to know. Frannie? We're ready for lunch."

She definitely must have been waiting just outside the door, because it opened immediately to let Frannie and her tray of goodies into the room. Logan tried not to drool over his favorite pasta dish and the garlic bread that was set down in front of him. "Thank you. This looks amazing."

"The food here is definitely one of the perks of the job," Roger joked.

The remainder of Logan's salad was whisked away before his tea was topped off. Then they were alone, or as alone as they could be with armed guards watching his every move.

Logan wasn't shy about the food anymore. He picked up a piece of bread. "So I swear I won't repeat anything we discuss. What brings me here today?"

"The radiation vaccine."

Logan's head shot up from the plate he'd been concentrating on. "What about it?"

"What do you know about it?" Roger forked up a bite of tortellini.

"Uh...it was the most important technological advance of the twenty-first century and paved the way for all future vaccines. It didn't cure those who already had cancer, but it kept others from developing it. The creation of that vaccine went hand in hand with preventing cancer because it opened our eyes to the way to alter genetics safely. Cancer was one of the most prevalent causes of death during that era."

Roger nodded. "And from what my ancestors passed down over the years, it was the most painful. Not just for those who were afflicted, but loved ones who had to watch others go through it. Eat your pasta while it's still hot."

Logan followed the command, barely containing a groan of satisfaction. "The new vaccine did away with it altogether. By the year 2100, there wasn't one diagnosed case left in the world. It was basically a miracle of modern science at the time. I mean, at that point they still had the common cold to deal with, but...that rarely killed people."

"It changed the world," Roger agreed. "Our lifespan went up even more. And those living near nuclear power facilities or working in them...they had no reason to worry anymore. We can't comprehend how many lives that vaccine saved over time."

"No, we can't." The radiation/cancer vaccine was Logan's favorite subject to expound on; he even devoted an entire class to the study of its origins and the horrors of what radiation could do to the human body. Surely Roger knew this, and Logan wondered if that was why the man had brought it up. Like the food, it was breaking down his walls.

"I've been told this is your area of expertise. How much do you know about the man who invented it?"

"Well, it was technically invented in a lab. But the formula for it, the actual instruction about how to create it and administer it, that came from a high school student."

"James Diamond, right?"

"Yeah. The story goes that he came up with it as an assignment during his senior year. I mean, imagine being in high school and saving the world. I have so much respect for him, what a genius! And then he went on to do so many other things in the field, he was a legend! He even got rid of the common cold!"

"I was told you get excited talking about him," Roger grinned. "I see it now."

"Well, how can you not? The guy should've been sainted when he died. He's...okay, go ahead and laugh, but he's my hero. It's because of him that I wanted to be a doctor in the first place. I saw a documentary about him when I was a kid, and...that was it." Logan kept to himself that he'd been drawn in by the young man's beauty more than anything else—at least in the beginning.

"I've seen a few documentaries about him myself. I noticed that there wasn't much at all about him before the breakthrough. Do you know anything about his childhood? What might've led up to his discovery?"

In his excitement for the subject at hand, Logan had been devouring his food without thought. He realized it now and set down his fork, then used a cloth napkin to wipe at his mouth. A swallow of tea centered him enough to answer the question. "No, he's a mystery before that. Trust me, if there's anyone who knows all there is to know about James Diamond, it's me. There's nothing on file about his life before senior year. When he died, he had his house demolished. A lot of people who were interviewed about him back then said he was eccentric, and he never talked about his personal life. The only thing that was found after his house was destroyed was a trophy that got buried in the rubble. One of the construction workers found it and donated it to a museum, it's all we have left of his possessions that wasn't auctioned or sold off for charity as per his instructions."

"The hockey trophy, right?"

"Yeah. I went to see it once on display. 'Duluth Most Valuable Player 2012.' I bet if we could find some old yearbooks from his school, we'd see pictures of him on the team or something. But no one's ever been able to. Even that documentary only had his senior portrait to show. Nothing earlier, not even anything on social media. All of the footage was from after he submitted that assignment."

"We do know that he was raised by his mother. No siblings."

"Right," Logan nodded. "And we know what high school he went to, at least for senior year. We know that he insisted on being buried in his lab coat. Otherwise? The man's a mystery."

"Really? I hadn't heard that one, about the lab coat."

"Yeah, I remember seeing a picture from his wake. So many people were there to pay respects that they had to shut the doors, and people still gathered around the place. I'm telling you, he's a legend."

"I don't argue that. It's hard to imagine what the world might've been like without that vaccine, isn't it?"

Logan shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it."

Roger sipped at his coffee. "Unfortunately, you have to."

Logan's stomach dropped. Now they were getting to the real reason he was here. "Do I?"

"Yes. What I'm about to tell you...this is the thing you cannot repeat to anyone. Very few people outside this room know this information, and it's for good reason."

"Okay." Logan sensed that it was. For the first time, his curiosity was outweighed by fear. Was it too late to leave?

"Are you well, Mr. Mitchell?"

When had they returned to Mr. Mitchell? "I'm...apprehensive. You're going to tell me something I don't want to hear."

Roger sighed deeply. "There are secrets that are kept and passed down over the generations. I'm sure you know this."

"You're not talking family skeletons, are you?"

"No, Logan. I'm talking secrets that if discovered, could change the world as we know it. Two hundred years ago, there was a man who ruled a tiny little country and was determined to rule the entire world."

"We still have that now."

"We do. Would you be surprised to know that the most dangerous one now is a direct descendant of the most dangerous one back then?"

Not really, Logan supposed. "Are you gonna tell me it's the same country, too?"

"It is. There was once a plan to use radiation poisoning to kill off the population of every continent except what was then called Asia."

The pasta felt revolting in his stomach. "You mean like...nuclear war?"

"Yes, but not in the sense you're thinking. Rather than sending nuclear warheads across the world, which was expensive and difficult to accomplish for small countries, this man came up with a plan to instead bomb all the nuclear power plants in the world over the course of twenty-four hours. Except, of course, the plants on his own continent."

"Oh my god." He reached for his tea.

"His plan was to wipe out humanity in all of those areas, leaving himself the ruler of his continent, and in effect, what was left of the world."

"That's insane. That much radiation...it would've spread to them eventually, it would've cloaked the entire planet."

"I'm not sure he or his advisers realized that. But they did know that it would kill off the rest of the population. And in the spring of 2012, that plan was in development."

"Oh my god." Logan had to stand up and pace. "Oh my god."

"Obviously, it was never put into action. From what we were told, it was supposed to be carried out the following year. A plan like that takes time to coordinate. Many people to recruit and some of those willing to die for it to be a success. But he was in the process of making it happen."

"What stopped him?"

"The creation of a vaccine that would make people immune to radiation poisoning. Once that was known to be in existence, it became a race to see who would succeed first. Luckily, the vaccine was approved and distributed before he could make his plan work. It was a close call, though."

"Holy shit. Holy shit, we wouldn't even be alive if that happened. Nobody would be. The earth would be uninhabitable."

"So you understand how important it is that James Diamond turn in that assignment. You get that if he doesn't, humanity will be destroyed?"

"Yeah, of course, I mean..." Logan's pacing stopped as he frowned. He stared over at Roger with narrowed eyes. "Why are you talking about it in the present tense? This all happened two hundred years ago. It's in the past, it can't be changed."

"That would be the case if another miracle of modern science hadn't occurred just twenty years ago. It's not something anyone outside these walls is aware of, but...we've conquered time travel." Roger spread his arms in a "what can you do?" manner.

"What?!"

"It's true."

"Oh my god. I have to sit down." This time the tea didn't do much for his nerves. "You can't be serious."

"I am. We've tested it enough to know that it's reliable. We can select any point on the time and space spectrum and...visit."

"Holy shit." He used the napkin to wipe sweat from his brow. "Okay. Calm down, Logan. Calm down. Okay. So...let me catch up. So we can time travel now."

"Yes. We've made a pact to never use it to change the past, only to visit. Unless something like this comes up and...it has."

"What has? We're still here, so we know James Diamond created that vaccine. Nobody went back and changed that, right?"

"Not yet. Our people working undercover have informed us that someone is about to. They know we have the capability and they're planning to send someone to infiltrate us for that specific reason."

"They who?"

"That same man you mentioned earlier. The descendant of the psychotic ruler from the past. He knows about that plan and he wants to go back and make sure it's carried out."

Logan's head fell into his hands. "That doesn't make any sense. He'd die. We'll all die. He wouldn't even be born!"

"According to our people, he doesn't care about that. He wants to honor his 'greatest ancestor'. Even if he'll never be born to see it."

"That's just...no. That doesn't even..." Logan finally looked up. Roger's gaze told him that no matter how crazy it sounded, it was true. It was all true. "How do we stop him?"

"We make sure nothing gets in the way of James Diamond turning in that assignment. We send someone back to make sure that happens. Someone who knows as much as possible about the man, who can watch over him and protect him."

"What?! You're crazy! I'm no bodyguard! Why not send back one of these guys?" Logan gestured toward the men lining the wall.

"Because they don't know him. You do."

"I don't! I don't know anything more than anyone else about the man!"

"That's not what you said ten minutes ago. 'Trust me, if there's anyone who knows all there is to know about James Diamond, it's me.' You just said that."

"That was...it was... I was speaking hypothetically!"

"Logan, I'm sorry. There's nothing else we can do."

"You can't send someone in to take this guy out? You're the freaking government! Don't tell me that doesn't happen, I know my history."

Rather than deny it, Roger replied, "It wouldn't matter. His closest followers know the plan and would continue it."

"So take them all out!"

"And start a global war?"

"Well...I mean...it's not like I can stop them, either! I'm just a professor! What good am I gonna do?"

"You're going to befriend him. You're not going to interfere, because that might cause problems for the future. Ripple effect. But you're going to get close to him and make sure he completes that report without anyone else showing up to stop him."

Logan rubbed a hand over his face. He was trembling at the mere thought of...well, all of it. "Hold on. Just think about it for a second. Let's say I do it. I go back, he creates the formula for the vaccine, he turns it in. That teacher alerts the medical field, ergo the world. Then I come back here and they send someone back again. And again. And again, until they succeed. I can't keep that from happening."

Roger licked his lips and looked down. In a solemn tone he stated, "Which is why you can't come back. It's a one-way trip, Logan."

Stunned, Logan had nothing to say.

"Sure, they can send someone back to senior year. But they don't know anything more about him than we do, so sending someone earlier won't do any good. Nobody knows where he was. He might've been in Duluth then, or he might've moved there in 2012. The only sure thing we have from before the assignment is that trophy. And he probably received that in March of 2012. So that's the earliest it makes sense to send someone. Otherwise whoever goes back is just wasting time trying to find him."

"That's still three months before he turned in the assignment. You send someone back with three months to kill, there's no guarantee that person won't inadvertently change something in his life. Nobody can guarantee that."

"No, but we can guarantee that if we don't try, we'll fail. It's our only option, Logan. You are our only option. You're young enough to fit in at a high school, and you know your target. You say no, and we're all doomed."

It was necessary to pace again. Logan saw the guards stiffen when he rose suddenly, then they relaxed when he did nothing more dangerous than wander in a circle. "That's not what you said earlier. If I walked out of here, you'd find someone else. You said that, Roger."

"I lied. I was trying to help you feel less pressured."

"Oh, gee, thanks for that! I don't feel any pressure at all now!"

"I know it's a lot to take in."

"Do you?" Logan spun around to glare at Roger. "Do you really?"

"I do. I also know that the President of the United States is counting on you, as well as the billions of people walking this planet right now who have no idea that they could cease to exist any second."

Anger was actually helping him to think rationally. "That's why you asked about my family. My friends. Someone close to me. Because you know that I have nothing holding me here outside of my work. You know I won't be leaving anyone behind."

Roger's hand gripped his arm, forcing him to stop pacing. "I also know it's scary and that what we're asking is too much. It's entirely too much for one person to take on."

"Then why ask? Don't answer that, I know why. How would I even blend in? Where would I live?"

"We have all of that arranged. There's a family who takes in foster children, they were documented as such at the time and they're in the area. We've created paperwork for you, inserted records of you into the system and collected enough cash from that time to get you through a few months."

"And then what? I'm supposed to...get a job?"

"That's up to you."

"How will I even know if I succeeded? That's the worst part, I'll never know."

Roger shrugged. "You can assume that if James turns in that assignment, you succeeded. And you'll be there to watch it all happen. To see the world change." He paused before adding, "To see James Diamond. To talk to him. Know him. Your hero."

Logan's heart skipped a beat. "Don't use that! That's not fair!"

"One of the perks of the job, right?"

Out of all the things Roger had said up to this point, that one pissed him off the most. The man was using his adulation to manipulate him.

Even worse, it was working.

What would it be like to see James Diamond in the flesh? Logan had a picture of the man's senior portrait hanging on his living room wall. For inspiration, he'd always said when someone asked. In truth, it was because he was captivated by the man's magnetic hazel eyes. His dark hair. Even James' nose was cause for scrutiny. The man was absolutely gorgeous.

What would it be like to have that smile aimed his way? To see those eyes flash at him? To hear James talk about their mutual love of medicine?

"Just remember, you can't interfere."

Logan's attention returned to Roger. "What?"

"Be his friend, but don't influence him. Let things take their natural course. Under no circumstances are you to impart any knowledge from his future or your present. You can't tell him where you're from."

"Like he'd believe me anyway."

"I'm just saying, Logan. You have to be careful. Can you do this?"

Could he? Probably not. He'd screw it up. Regret it his first night there, most likely. But if he didn't? "I think the question is...can I not? How can I let humanity die? I don't know if I can make this work or not, but...I have to try, don't I?"

"You do," Roger nodded. "And when you get home today and start to rethink your choice, I want you to stare at that portrait on your living room wall. Watch that interview clip from the documentary, the one you watch every night before bed. Imagine that face looking at you, Logan. It can. It will."

Roger knew way more than Logan was comfortable with. But he was right.

Logan couldn't miss out on the chance to speak to James Diamond.

And if he saved the world in the process? Yeah, that would be pretty awesome as well.