Welcome everyone, dive on in, a bit of a mystery, bit of angst, bit of Christmas magic. This is set in the present but in this world Harry's been gone 4 yrs, and Leo 3, I might have slightly overestimated…but that's how much we all miss Harry. I know it's been quiet around here, so if you do read please leave a note, even if to just say hello. Thanks.
The Lost Child
Summer 2015
"Your 11 o'clock's in the conference room," Jack called across to Nikki as he watched her make her way to her desk, a stack of manila folders in her arms.
"My 11 o'clock?" she stopped and stared at him, the top envelope slowly slipping down the uneven pile.
"He said you were expecting them." Jack replied leaning back in his chair and turning to look at her.
"Them?" Nikki caught the slightly sheepish look and glanced over at Clarissa to gauge her reaction. She appeared to be engrossed in whatever was under her microscope. It spoke volumes.
"Did he give you a name?" Nikki demanded from below slanted eyebrows and dropped the folders with a loud thud on her desk.
Jack darted a look to Clarissa but she was still glued to her microscope. "I didn't quite catch it," he mumbled. He turned back to his computer and tried to ignore the loud sigh that Nikki expelled as she crossed back across the room and towards the conference room.
"Did Thomas set this up?" Nikki asked.
"No, not Thomas," Jack called after her, but he wasn't sure she'd heard. "Definitely not Thomas." The doors had already closed. He stood to watch her progress as she passed by the windows until he could no longer ignore the burning feeling at the base of his neck from Clarissa's stare.
"What?" he muttered curtly.
"You know!" Was all she said and looked back to her microscope.
"What!" he exclaimed a little more loudly and punctuated it with a sigh. "Really? You thought I'd tell her that?!"
"She's going to find out soon enough. You don't think she should have heard it from you first?"
"No I don't. You really think I'd tell her that Harry and Leo are waiting for her in the conference room? Have you lost your mind?"
"And all this time I thought you enjoyed getting your arse kicked."
"Only by you," Jack pouted and threw his pen down onto the desk, he pointed in the direction of the doors. "I might just go and check she's…" he stuttered to a halt.
"You do that." Clarissa replied and shook her head. "It's not you losing your mind I'm worried about," but he too had passed through the doors before hearing Clarissa's last words of wisdom.