Matthew Zerrelli, a tall and wiry man with dark hair that was a little overgrown, came stomping into Badger's on Monday just before noon, he snarled out a demand for beer to the gal working the bar and started slamming them back as quickly as she brought them.

Matthew Zerreli was in a bad mood.

Seems old Matt has gotten laid off from his job that morning, then had gone home to share the news with the wife, which lead to the yelling and shouting, which led to their newborn waking up in a screaming fit, sending the wife into more hysterics.

Which of course led to Matty boy giving her the back of his hand.

As far as I know, that was the first time he had ever laid hands on her, even when she turned out to be pregnant while she was still in high school, he had dealt with it. Finding them a place to live and getting two part time jobs to work around his classes. When his knee got wreaked and he lost his sports scholarship he had dropped out of college entirely to find full time work to support them.

He wasn’t a bad guy, he was just a normal guy who had a bad day in a bad year and lost it.

The problem was, it wouldn't be the last time he did it. It was a pattern really. Bad day, get drunk, go home and beat the wife, later on, it would be, get drunk, go home, beat the wife, then beat the kid.

Once the pattern starts, the next generation will often repeat it with their own wives and children.

Today, however, all this was new enough for Matt Zerreli to feel like the bad guy, hating himself instead of finding someone else to blame everything on, right now he was still a normal guy who had messed up, not a monster.

Last chance for me to step in.

Matt jumped a bit when I settled down into the seat next to him, big guys often can move pretty quietly, plus Matt was a pretty good sized guy himself, having a middle aged man with half a foot of height and eighty pounds in weight on him get up close all of the sudden could be a bit upsetting.

The scars from the Legacy wars probably didn’t help, Restem treatments can only do so much.

Matt started to say something when I pushed the envelope over to him, then focused on that.

“What the hell is that?”

I told him. “A thousand dollars in cash.”

Matt looked down for a second, then opened up the top flap of the envelope and fanned the thick wad of fabricated twenties, fakes of course, but more than good enough to pass any test available for the next twenty years.

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“I’m not sure what you-”

"The money is yours. Free and clear. Next week another thousand will be deposited in your bank account, minus your taxes. As far as the IRS is concerned you are earning a salary as a paid consultant."

Matt seemed a mite confused.

“All you have to do to keep earning the money every week is never lay another hand on your wife or kid.”

Matt’s face went a bit pale as he dropped the money and started to stand up, I dropped my hand down on his shoulder and pushed him back down in his chair. I might have used a bit more force than needed.

“Every week you do hit your wife, a thousand dollars goes into an account of a gentleman who will put a bullet in your head once enough money gets deposited to make it worth his time. A detective agency will be watching you to decide when the money goes to him, and I ain’t telling you how much money it will take before he has enough to pay him to put you down.”

I smiled “That way it can be a surprise.’

Matt was breathing pretty heavily, it took him a few tries before he was able to speak again. "Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?"

I patted the kid on the back. "It doesn't really matter Matt, just take the money and go home, getting drunk won't help your temper. Use the money, buy some groceries, catch up on the rent, hire a babysitter every now and then."

“Next week, look into going back to school, maybe talk to Simone about getting her GED once the kid is old enough for daycare."

Matt was staring at me now, I jerked my head toward the door.

“You’re getting a chance here Matt, take advantage of it or we will get you out of the way so your wife and kid get their chances instead.”

Matthew Zerrelli stumbled to his feet and headed for the door, he looked back once before he headed out.

The gal that had been watching us from the back of the bar spoke to the guy she was with for a moment before striding up behind me. She moved like a soldier and made sure to make eye contact with me in the mirror behind the bar before she stepped up close.

Shiny blond hair like a little kid’s, but with wrinkles around the eyes like an older person, and all the other telltale signs of a full body Restem treatment.

“So what are you, a time cop”

She gave me a shy smile. "No, Rico. Are far as anyone knows you are the first one to try to change the past and succeed, they haven't made any laws about it yet."

I waved a hand next to me. “Have a seat.”

She joined me at the bar, and we ordered drinks and looked at each other in the mirror.

I saw the resemblance “Son of a bitch.”

She smiled again, this time with a familiar evil grin. "That would be you, and don't talk about Mom like that."

I turned to look her in the eye, waiting for an explanation.

"Your plan worked out pretty well, he lost his temper a few times over the years, but the actor the detective hired played the role of a reluctant hitman well enough to put a scare into him.”

"He was still a bit of a prick though, Dad still joined the army to get out of the house, but Grandma ended up leaving Grandfather less than a year later this time. She remarried to a pretty decent guy and lived about five years longer before the cancer got her.”

“Dad still met mom, still got her pregnant, but then-”

The gal gestured to herself.

"Butterfly effect, two X chromosomes instead of an XY, and Alicia gets born first instead of Richard.

I grunted and stared long enough for her to start getting nervous before I felt the smile stretching out across my face. “Dam, I always wanted a sister.”

Alicia smiled back “And I always wanted a big brother, little bother Rich took more after mom in size and coloring.”

We both turned out attention back to our drinks for a moment.

She looked back up at me “You don’t have to stay here, changing history doesn’t work exactly like they told you.”

I sipped my drink. “They told me a traveler return to his origin time would undo everything that changed.”

She nodded. "That's true unless someone from the new timeline witnesses the key events, that makes the changes real somehow."

She jerked a thumb over her should to the guy still watching us from the back of the room. “Nigel over there is from the Institute, he’s here to witness me talking to you, so if I can talk you into coming back with me it will stay real.”

We sat in silence while I thought about it, I guess we were enough alike she was willing to give me the time to think.

"No, I've made a life for myself here and now. Not a great life, but better than the one I had."

Her shoulders sagged a bit, I gave her a smile. “Thanks for letting me know it worked.”

She smiled back and surprised me with a hug that nearly rocked me off my chair, pretty solidly built for a gal.

“Thanks for a pretty good life big bro, I’ll tell my kids about their uncle.”

She let go of me after a moment. “Take care of yourself.”

Then she was gone.

A moment later Nigel gave me a wave on his way out and was gone too.

Turning back to my drink, I had a realization, “Huh, I‘m an Uncle.”

I grinned to myself. “Guess I should start a few college funds.”