By Their Bootstraps, Part One (Semi-Closed, please PM)

[Candlestick]

"So, okay," David said once Caitlin had sat down.

He'd pulled her away after lunch with a promise to explain things. He looked nervous, but then, he always seemed to look nervous when he was alone with her. Caitlin smiled; she'd seen him stare down the worst foes Paragon or the Rogue Isles had thrown at them, but ask him to have a slice of pizza and he was all stutters and left feet.

"You know the other night? When I, you know, came by? To see you? When I came by the restaurant and everything?" he continued.

"Sure," Caitlin said. "At Bruno's."

"Yes! Right," David interjected. "Well, like, you know-- I said I'd tell you why I couldn't sleep. You know, why I had to, like, find you, you know?"

Caitlin nodded. "Well, I'm glad you did. I'm excited for prom."

David stopped and grinned a moment. "Are you? Really?"

"Of course," she replied. "I was wondering when you were going--"

"No, wait," David interrupted. "No, I need to tell you about what happened first. And then, well, you know, and then if you still wanna go, well, then I guess everything is going to work out okay."

"'Work out?'" asked Caitlin, giggling a little. "Why wouldn't things work out? It's just prom, and it's nice to go together."

"You don't understand," said David, helplessly. "See... I'm not the one who asked you to prom. Well, I mean, I am-- just not yet."

[Caitlin]

"Hold up." Caitlin held both hands up in interruption. "What do y… Wh-who…?"

She closed her eyes, with one hand still raised, and let out a slow breath. David had a way with these sorts of things, but they usually gave her a headache. She opened her eyes again and dropped her hand into her lap.

"OK. You said it wasn't you…" Caitlin paused. "…yet? What does that mean? David? Is this another one of those weird time things?"

[Candlestick]

"Sorta, yeah," David said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not bad, exactly-- it's a minor predestination paradox, but we need to keep it from becoming a bigger one, or even an ontological paradox," he continued, gesturing with his hands. "But, see-- there's more."

"More," Caitlin repeated, folding her hands. She frowned at him. "Okay."

David stopped when he saw her frown. "I'm really wrecking the whole romantic prom thing, huh?"

Caitlin shrugged a little. "Kinda."

David looked uncertain. "Oh. Hmm. Okay."

Caitlin rolled her eyes a little. "No, go ahead. I'm listening."

"Okay," David said, but he still sounded unsure. "Okay. Listen, first things first. The other night, I was having trouble sleeping. I was thinking about asking you to prom but I wasn't, you know, like, I wasn't... sure. But while I was sitting there, and like... not deciding? Well, that's when he came in.. I mean I. I came in. Like, I mean, I was looking me. And I told me, I mean he told me-- well, you know. He told me that he'd already asked you, because he knew I wasn't going to."

"You weren't going to?" Caitlin asked quietly.

"But I was! Or, at least, I think I was," David answered. "And I'm definitely going to now."

"But you already did."

"But that's the problem!" David said, almost shouting. "See, with the way things are right now, then we're going because the me from after the prom came back to make sure we went together. Which means the idea of going to prom was never mine. Because if we only go to prom because me from the future comes back after prom has already happened, how could we ever have gone to prom in the first place?"

Caitlin blinked. "Because we are..?"

"No, see, that's the nature of paradox, Cait," David went on. "Let's say you're sitting there when a version of yourself from the future shows up and tell you that next week you're going to win the lottery. And she gives you the numbers, to make sure you win. And so you play the numbers, and then, after you win, you have to remember to come back in time and give yourself the numbers, right? Cause if you don't have the numbers, you won't win, right?"

"Uh," Caitlin said, thinking. "Okay, sure."

"Right, but in that case, where did the numbers come from, Cait? Who came up with those numbers? No one did. That's an ontological paradox."

Caitlin thought a moment. "So we're not going to prom?"

"No, we are. At least, you know, I hope we are. I just need to break the loop, I think."

"You think?"

"Well, I'm not exactly an expert, Cait," David explained. "And I can't go to the Menders. I think I'd get in trouble... if I'm not in trouble already." A look of panic washed over him, but he shook it off. "Nevermind that," he said. "I think what I need to do is ask you to go to prom. I mean, I need to ask again, before the first time I ask. Well, I mean before in a relative sense. Before from the point of view of the future. See, technically I asked you to go to prom after prom already happened, after we already went."

Caitlin shook her head a little. "So..?"

David smiled nervously. "So... will you go to prom with me?"

[Caitlin]

"Look, David," Caitlin began gently after thinking for a moment, "I'm not sure what would have happened if you… if your future self hadn't messed things up…" She stopped as she saw the downfallen look on his face. "That's not what I meant," she interjected before he could say anything. "I was just saying, if you hadn't asked me, well, you were taking so long and everything, and I don't know what it does for your paradox, but I was thinking maybe I should give you a nudge, you know?"

David seemed surprised. "You were?"

She waved her hands a bit as if dismissing the thought. "Actually, I'm not sure that matters right now. I just have one question for you. Are you asking me now because you want to go to the prom with me? Or because you want to avoid an," Caitlin spoke the phrase carefully, "an ontological paradox?"

[Candlestick]

David didn't even need any time to think about it. "Of course I want to go to prom with you! I'd just like to do it without causing the end of the universe."

[Caitlin]

Caitlin couldn't help giggling as she nodded. "I'd love to go with you. Just one more thing, though?"

Leaning in swiftly, Caitlin gave David a kiss on the cheek. "If you really want to work on figuring out a paradox, you can figure out who kissed who first," she whispered, before sitting back with a shy smile.

[Caitlin]

Two weeks later...

“Hey, David!” Caitlin called out as she approached David’s locker. He turned suddenly almost spilling his books. She reached out a hand to help steady them and held back a sympathetic wince.

“Oh, uh, hi Cait.”

“I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute? Or are you on your way to class?” Caitlin offered a disarming smile, but it still looked like David might lose his tenuous hold on his books at any minute.

David nodded, though to which question was unclear. “Well, I was on my way, you know, but I can, like, take a minute.”

“Come on. I can walk with you, then.”

“OK. Uh, what’s up?”

“You told me to remind you…” She stopped mid-sentence, and with a slight roll of her eyes and a shake of her head she muttered, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She looked around the hall to make sure no one was too much within earshot. Then she focused her attention on David again and lowered her voice. “… to remind you to go back. You know. To ask me to the prom again. The first time. You know what I mean.”

“Oh! Yeah, right...” he started.

“And to leave some clothes for the party? So you wouldn’t have to run all the way back to the dorm?”

“Clothes. Yeah.” David responded.

Caitlin interrupted him again, “David?”

He merely looked at her with a question in his eyes.

She paused, uncertainty clouding her features briefly. “This... it's safe right? I know you have to close the loop, and everything. No more paradox. But... I want you to make it back.”

[Candlestick]

David smiled. "Nah, it'll be fine. I mean, if it wasn't supposed to happen that way, it wouldn't have. I mean, the Menders already would have stopped me, right?"

Caitlin blinked a little. "You're asking me? You're the one earning the merit badges with those guys."

"You got me there," David said, shrugging a little. "No problem. I'll grab those clothes and put them in the bag I found, and I'll take care of everything tonight."

Caitlin stepped forward a little. "And then dinner, maybe? I was hoping we could go to that Chinese place again?"

David smiled widely. "Your kung pao wish is my command," he said, and Caitlin giggled.

The story continues in Part Two.