Missing Moments from The Pilot

This story begins in the middle of the Pilot episode on the beach at Kitty Hawk.

Ch 1 At Kitty Hawk

"Yeah, and if he was anything like me, you probably did him in," Bogg said in frustration as he caught up with Jeffrey on the beach.

Jeffrey stopped walking and turned quickly. He took off the Nazi Officer's hat he'd been wearing and threw it at Bogg, "shut up!" he yelled and turned to run away. He needed to get as far away from Bogg as he could. As he ran, he could hear Bogg's surprising response.

"I'm sorry Jeff."

But he'd started running and he just couldn't stop. A second later he was pulled down onto the sand. He struggled as hard as he could, "no, no, let me go, let me go," he shouted over and over again, but Phineas Bogg wouldn't let go. In fact, Jeffrey felt strong arms surround him, and he was held tightly to Bogg's chest. He struggled harder and then broke down in long grief stricken sobs that wracked his body. "Let me go," he pleaded one last time as more tears than he had shed in a long time spilled out of his eyes.

"It's gonna be okay Jeff, I'm sorry." The words came out before Phineas Bogg had thought of what to say. He knelt on the beach for a long time, holding this child as he cried. His thoughts were a jumble of emotions and each one involved this kid. How could this have happened to him? He always worked alone, he had told the kid this before he'd even told him his name. He couldn't keep this kid, yet now, here he was, holding him and thinking that he couldn't just leave him anywhere in time.

He tried to distance himself from these feelings. He would have to get rid of this kid somehow.

Finally Jeffrey's crying stopped and he pushed himself upright, still in Bogg's arms.

"Sorry," he whispered as their eyes met. He suddenly seemed to realize how close together they were and moved away from Bogg. He stood awkwardly on the beach and looked away as he brushed the tears from his eyes and took a deep breath.

Bogg watched him curiously as he set his shoulders and tried to get himself back under control. It was an admirable effort and Bogg was impressed.

"No need to apologize," Bogg answered, "I should apologize to you." He felt guilty that he hadn't realized Jeff had been an orphan. In retrospect it seemed obvious. He'd told Mary how Bogg's "wife" had died, he'd never talked about missing anyone, or that anyone would be worried about him. It really was stupid of Bogg, not to have picked up on all the clues.

"You didn't know," Jeff answered and they both sat down on the sand.

They were quiet, but Bogg's mind was racing. What was he going to do with this kid? His omni kept getting stuck in the automatic mode, so he couldn't take him back to headquarters, and he sure couldn't get him back to 1982. He'd have to leave him here, but the thought didn't set well with him. This kid needed someone to listen and understand. He didn't need strange people in an unfamiliar time zone. Bogg shook his head. He couldn't really take this kid along on missions, could he?

The kid did seem to know about the Wright brothers, and that knowledge would help on this mission, so maybe, just this once he could travel with a civilian. It would mean breaking the Code, but he didn't feel like he had any choice, not a fair choice for the kid anyway.

"What do we do now?" Jeff asked, his voice sounded almost normal.

Bogg shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe we should just finish checking out the beach, to be sure they aren't here?" he said, more to stall for time so he could figure out what to do than any other reason. As one, they got up and started walking.

As Jeff walked beside him he looked up at Bogg occasionally. He couldn't believe that he was actually still with him, especially after his outburst. He wouldn't have blamed him at all if he had just touched that omni and disappeared. After all, Jeff couldn't have stopped him and he wouldn't have been able to go after him. A lot of people would have left him, but not this person. Bogg had seemed rough on the outside at first, but Jeff decided there was a lot more to him than he had first thought. For one thing, he was kind, and kindness was something Jeffrey hadn't felt in a long time. He had never felt any kindness from his Aunt Elizabeth or Tom, not like this stranger had shown him.

They reached the end of the beach and sat down on some rocks to rest.
"So what happened to your parents?" Bogg asked in a soft voice.

Jeff considered saying he'd rather not talk about it. He didn't want to throw a wet blanket on every conversation with this new friend of his, if that's what he was. Still, Bogg did ask, and he must know it was likely to be a depressing story. Jeff paused uncertainly and then began to talk.

"We were going camping up north. I was in the camper reading some comics, ..." It felt good to talk about it, even though he started to cry at the end. As he sobbed, he folded his arms across his chest to shut out the world.

"Don't blame yourself kid, just get some rest."

He heard the words as he felt a coat being spread over him and a warm hand rest on his shoulder. How did this guy know that he DID blame himself? That it WAS his fault that he couldn't get anyone to stop? But Bogg had just said not to blame himself, no one had ever told him THAT before. Could it be true? He was just a kid, after all, but he still felt responsible.

Bogg spread the coat over Jeffrey and rested his hand on his shoulder. He could feel it shaking as he sobbed. He realized the kid blamed himself for his parent's deaths. What a terrible burden to bear. "Don't blame yourself kid, just get some rest." The words came out automatically. How could anyone witness this grief and not try to ease it?

"Dayton," Bogg said softly. Well, that would have to wait for tomorrow. The sun would be going down soon and Jeff was exhausted. Bogg suspected he would be asleep soon and he needed it. They hadn't slept since Bogg had landed on the ledge outside his bedroom and that had been at the end of a long day. Bogg himself had been tired, even then.

That was another thing, Bogg thought to himself. The omni had never landed him anywhere there wasn't a red light to solve, unless he'd been hurt and ended up in a green zone. He hadn't had time to look at the omni in Jeffrey's room. Why would the omni put him in 1982 if not for a red light? Was he supposed to do something with this kid? It seemed so unlikely. Still, the kid was in need, that was obvious. But how could Bogg solve THAT red light. His guidebook didn't even go that far forward in time. Not that he had his guidebook any more.

He stood up and shook his head. This was too much to understand. And now, here was this kid, sound asleep and virtually helpless lying in front of him. The thought of leaving him never entered his mind. He sighed and leaned over Jeffrey, lifting him up onto his shoulder carefully. There was a place to stay just up the beach, they could get a room and think about Dayton in the morning.

When he entered the office, the proprietor quickly grasped the situation and helped Bogg to sign in one-handed while his other suported the boy, balancing him against his chest and shoulder.

"Your son will sleep well in one of our new beds. Most comfortable on the island."

Bogg nodded and didn't bother correcting him, it was convenient for him to think Jeff was his son.

Once in the room, Bogg slipped Jeffrey's shoes off and eased him under the covers. It was a strange feeling, putting a child to bed like this. Bogg sat down and stared at Jeffrey, sleeping soundly, still unsure what the future would look like. How long would he have this kid? Surely after this mission he'd be able to arrange something. He heard fireworks outside and moved to the small porch outside the door. Farther along the beach he could see a crowd gathering to watch a fireworks display.

"Come on, it's gonna be something!" said the hotel owner, motioning him to join them as he walked in a crowd past the cabin where Phineas sat. Phineas watched them go. He would have gone to see the show just a short time ago, but now he glanced toward the door and knew he couldn't leave the boy. It was an unfamiliar place, and if he woke up he might be afraid. Suddenly he realized that he wanted to protect the kid, it was not a familiar feeling, but somehow it felt right. The kid had had too many bad experiences in his life so far, and Phineas was going to make sure there weren't any more, not if he could help it anyway.

He sat on the porch steps and watched the fireworks from afar. This was probably one of the stranger situations he'd found himself in.

The next morning, Jeffrey woke up early and sat up. He looked around the unfamiliar room and saw Bogg, sound asleep on the bed against the opposite wall. It hadn't been a dream after all. This was real. He noticed the antique lighting fixtures. This was 1903 and they were in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was unbelievable. And this guy, dressed like a pirate, was all that stood between him and ... well, he didn't know what. He wondered how he'd gotten from those rocks to this comfortable bed. Bogg must have carried him. Just before he had fallen asleep last night, he remembered not caring if he was left alone there on the rocks to die. In fact, yesterday he hadn't cared about anything, but now, he was curious about this man who looked like a pirate, Phineas Bogg.

Bogg stretched and groaned before he sat up and looked at Jeff.

"Morning," Bogg said.

"Hi," Jeff replied uncertainly.

The next thing he knew Bogg was up and pulling on his boots. "Let's see what we can find for breakfast."

Jeff got up quickly, he would try to keep up and help the best he could. He would make sure he didn't need to be carried again, that was for sure. Maybe he could stay with this strange man if he could prove he was useful. It would be better than going back to Aunt Elizabeth.

As they walked to the office, Jeff began talking, "let me tell you what I know about Dayton," he began, "the Wright Brothers owned a bicycle shop there and they built a lot of their first gliders there. They didn't come to Kitty Hawk until they were successful with their gliders. They flew them off local cliffs around Dayton."

They walked into the office and bought two large breakfasts. When they sat down to eat, Jeff continued. Bogg sat in awe of all the information this kid knew about the Wright Brothers. As he ate he couldn't help thinking that if the kid knew as much about everything as he did about this, he wouldn't need his guidebook. The sudden thought of his guidebook put a knot in his stomach. Losing your guidebook was another violation of the Code, a big one. He really might lose his job over all this, and none of it was his fault. He hadn't put himself on that ledge. He didn't own a lousy mutt. He couldn't let the kid fall out that window. His omni couldn't get him back there, in fact it couldn't reliably get him anywhere at present. He couldn't Field Strip it because he didn't have his guidebook. He felt powerless to change his circumstances and that was another feeling he wasn't used to.

When they finished breakfast, with these thoughts fresh in his mind, he spoke in a not so nice tone, "okay, let's go to Dayton." But when he felt the small hand touch his arm, he realized again just how young Jeffrey was. Immediately he felt guilty for his tone of voice, this wasn't Jeff's fault either. All they could do was try to make the best of it.

His omni wasn't even reliable anymore. He couldn't be sure it would get them to Dayton, though he had noticed that even when it wasn't working well, it could and did bring him to earlier events in the time line he was attempting to repair. Sort of like it could followed a thread forward and backward until events were fixed even though it couldn't jump outside that timeline to any other place he might want to go.

So, hoping they would end up in Dayton, he pushed the button.