Fan Fiction # 32

Pendergast, Halo Spencer

"All Around Me"

DICLAIMER- Pendergast, Proctor and Constance belong to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Halo Spencer, Ryan Elmasy and the plot belong to me. -Gadget

Chapter 1

Pendergast's POV

He was sitting in the back of an ambulance when I arrived, covered in blood and for his sake I hoped some of it was his own. An EMT was holding a stethoscope to his chest and checking his blood pressure. He sat there patiently, staring off into space, his dark sunglasses perched on top his curly black hair. He hadn't noticed me yet and I took the opportunity to just watch him.

At the beginning of the day, I was sure Halo Spencer's shirt had been white but now, as it was nearing 6pm, his shirt had turned crimson in places and pinkish in others with the blood that covered him. His faded jeans and Converse sneakers were blood stained as well, nearly caked in the stuff. The officer that called me on his behalf hadn't told me anything of the situation, only that a former FBI agent had requested my presence. I had arrived as quickly as I could; I never knew what the situation could bring when Halo asked for my help.

"I'm going to check your eyes now Mister Spencer." The EMT said, slinging the stethoscope around her neck and taking out a small flashlight. "Could you remove your contacts?"

"I'm not wearing any," I heard him mutter and I saw the EMT shake her head in blatant disbelief.

I could empathize with her, having seen Halo's eyes dozens of time. They were yellow, orange and gold, each color swirling about an almond-shaped pupil. Halo always wore sunglasses to hide their inhumanness; of course I didn't have any room to throw stones when it came to humanity, but I still wished he wouldn't cover them.

"Mister Spencer-"

"Look, I'm not wearing contacts," Halo snapped. "Stop checking me over, you have done your job, just leave me alone now."

"Mister Spencer, I must insist-"

"Leave me alone, I'm fine!"

I deemed his outburst the perfect moment to make myself known to him. I stepped up beside the EMT and laid my hand lightly on her shoulder. "I'll take it from here," I said, flashing my badge and she went to the cab of the ambulance, leaving us alone.

Halo looked up at me as I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and went about wiping the blood from his face. He really was covered in blood and as I wiped it away, I realized that he didn't have any cuts or injuries at all which meant that none of the blood was his.

"Pend," He leaned into me, putting his hands in the center of my chest and I grabbed his wrists, pushing him upright.

"Tell me what has happened." I order him.

Halo's hands fisted on my shirt. "Hold me,"

I shook my head. "Not now, Halo." I said. "Tell me what has happened; tell me why you're covered in blood."

His face started to crumble and he reached for me again. "Please,"

"I can't Halo," I touched his face lightly, my skin soaking up the sudden tears that had begun to fall. "Tell me," I said again.

Halo let his head fall back. "Pend I-"

"Mister Spencer, we're ready to take your statement, if you'd come down to the precinct with me." A uniformed officer was suddenly beside us, hand resting on the butt of his gun. I was surprised they were only treating Halo like a witness and not a suspect with the amount of blood that covered him.

Halo looked up, tears hanging from his long lashes. "I..." It was a rarity that the young man ran out of things to say and he looked to me, silently asking me to speak for him.

"I'm Special Agent Pendergast," I said, extending my hand to the officer. "As you can see, Mister Spencer is very shaken up. Is there any way that he can give his statement tomorrow?"

The cop looked up at me as if assessing my worth. "Agent Pendergast-"

I knew he was about to argue some point and I handed him a business card. "No, officer, I'm taking him elsewhere and you can call me tomorrow with a time to meet."

I took Halo by the arm and led him the Rolls Royce that was idling at the curb. I ushered the younger man into the backseat, sliding in next to him and closing the door.

"Proctor," I said to my driver. "Take us to the Riverside address."

"Yes sir. Is he alright?" He asked.

I looked at Halo; he wasn't buckled in and I reached around him to secure the seatbelt. He didn't look at me; he only gazed out the tinted window with silent tears falling down his face. I reached out and wiped the tears away and he still didn't look at me, he just curled up in his seat, bringing his knees to his chest and hiding his face against them.

"Just drive Proctor," I said softly.

"Yes sir."

I had to help Halo from the car; he was so exhausted, leaning heavily against me. I kept my arm around his shoulders, holding him to me like he had asked me to.

"You're going to stare here Halo, until we get things sorted out." I told him. "Would you like to take a shower?"

He nodded silently and I led him into the mansion. I didn't see Constance, my ward, lurking around anywhere. It was a little odd; she normally met me at the door. I paid her absence no mind, leading Halo to the master bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, looking around in confusion.

"Do you know where you are? This is my real home Halo, this is my sanctuary." I told him. I had never taken him to this address before, I usually took him to the Dakota apartment; he liked the waterfall there, he said it was soothing.

He nodded absently and began to undress right there in front of me. I watched, wondering if I should leave him alone or if he would rather I stay, I wondered if he even knew what he wanted. When my parents had died, I had had no idea what was even happening around me for several days.

The decision was made for me as Halo got tangled in his shirt when he started to pull in it over his head. He made frustrated sounds, growling and cursing under his breath and I moved forward, untangling him and tossing the shirt to the ground. The blood had soaked through his shirt and now stained his skin, turning his normally honey-like complexion to some odd shade of sickly green. His jeans followed the shirt along with his socks and boxers; I left them there on the floor. The clothes were ruined anyway, there wasn't even a slight hope of cleaning them, but then I recognized the shirt. I knew it wasn't Halo's and I decided I would wash them anyway.

Halo flicked his hand at the bathtub and it didn't surprise me when it suddenly filled with water. Halo was a wizard, adept in magic and all things preternatural; he had only hid his powers when he'd worked with the FBI before he'd failed a mandatory drug test.

He climbed into the tub and after I had set out a towel for him, I sat on the toilet lid, watching him sit there unmoving in the tub. I stayed like that for what seemed an eternity, just watching him stare at the wall and the water.

"Halo," I finally said. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

He shook his head and in that motion I saw the tears that had begun to fall again. Lord, what had happened to cause his behavior? Halo Spencer was one of the happiest people I had ever met, always in a good mood and always joking around. He was rarely ever in a bad mood, rarely ever silent and lost in his thoughts.

I knelt by the tub, touching my hand to his hair, smoothing it away from his forehead. I turned away for a moment, grabbing a cup from under the sink; I filled in with water from the bath and started to bathe Halo. He sat there silently, letting me clean the dried blood from his skin. When he was completely clean, I helped him dry off, wrapping him in the towel while I used the blow-dryer on his hair.

Finally clean of blood and now completely dried off, I wrapped him in the towel and led him into my bedroom. I tucked him into my bed, pulling the topmost cover to his shoulder, making sure he was warm and comfortable. He started to doze off almost instantly and I sat beside him for a moment and it finally struck me what was wrong.

"Halo," I whispered. "Where's Ryan?"