An Inadvertent Drop of the Ball (Superhero Black Hole, Pt. 47)

Zoe's really talented in the nonverbal communication department. When she shoots you one of _those_ looks when you fess up to something and then clam up, you'd better start talking again fast.

"Please understand," I weakly began, fumbling around for words. "It's just that…well, you know how you can't undo the past without changing the present?" She made to speak, but I just kept yammering on. "Well, Latrodecta's past is in the future, and there's no telling what's going to happen if I undo my past in the future before it has a chance to instigate my past again." I paused a moment. "Anyway, when the time came to do the deed, I got cold feet, and that fight-or-flight response I learned about in the In-Between kicked in, and I was catapulted back here. Now I've got to wait…what if this happens again?"

Zoe said nothing for a few seconds, then straightened up. "We decided that we were a team, right?" she inquired.

I nodded.

"Then we'd better bar down," she declared. "We've got a black widow to shoot up."