"Not blind, just busy." While Sorcha had been talking, he'd been fidgeting and clinging to the table and making all sorts of odd energetic expressions as ideas burst in his head and fitted themselves neatly into the puzzle. He talked faster, half-standing in the booth, his eyes intense and intent on the establishment of understanding in Sorcha Cooper, who was right now -- he was sure of it -- the most important girl in this little universe. "And you're absolutely right, the [i]punishment for humanity's sins[/i] theory is complete rubbish. The reason giant lizard-monsters are falling out of the sky and terrorizing the ignorant population of London is that something happened that wasn't supposed to happen -- or something didn't happen that wasn't not supposed to happen -- and the timeline fractured," he pressed his palms together and cracked them apart, then curled his fingers like he was holding a water balloon, "and created this [i]bubble[/i], this pocket universe that doesn't belong in the normal time stream, that's [i]collapsing[/i] in on itself as we speak," his hands grew closer and he clapped them together, "that's why we're all trapped in London, it's why the barrier is getting smaller and smaller, it's why the Reapers are getting in through the folds, because this timeline, this city as you know it now isn't supposed to exist, your lives are supposed to be different, [i]so[/i] much better than this. And the [i]reason[/i] that thing that happened that shouldn't've or didn't happen but should've is [i]you[/i]."

It hadn't clicked before he'd said it, but now he [i]knew[/i]. Suddenly he was out of his seat, his voice raised to a near-shout in his eagerness to make her understand what he understood. "The world's gone wrong and it's all because of you, Sorcha Cooper, and it's mostly impossible but it's not [i]completely[/i] impossible because it is, it's happening here and now. But don't worry," he walked around behind her and spun toward her with a smile, his back to the door, "we can fix it. All we have to do is go back to 11.17 on February Second at Waterloo Station, figure out what you didn't do that you should've done, and all this will be like it never happened. 'Cause it never [i]will[/i] have happened, but you're the one who's got to make it un-happen." His face was suddenly serious, and he meant every word. "So whaddaya say?" He stretched out his hand to her with a flash of a grin. "Forget the milkshake, leave the nametag. Come with me and let's save the world."

He waited a few beats, just [i]waiting[/i] for her to call him crazy.