Tomorrow People (1970s):
Remember
by Mirwalker
NOTES: This story is set after Series 4 (One Law and Into the Unknown), to explain Stephen's sudden and unexplained disappearance from the series' universe.
Prologue
By this wet Thursday evening, it had already been a long week for Alec Robinson. Between election rumbles, two celebrity scandals, and an upcoming football special, he'd been run ragged supporting, if not actually reporting for, the daily paper's news coverage. Leaving the Tube stop with hundreds of others heading home, he too was tired from the day's toil, and also still thinking on projects unfinished, and dinner yet to be made that night. Well, in his case, his mother would handle dinner, and he, just the washing up afterwards. In fact, he supposed, listening to his father opine about the news and state of the world would be the hardest part of home life facing him today.
Interrupting that tepid anticipation, a large hooded figure brushed past him, nearly knocking him over.
While rude, the bump was not uncommon on the crowded streets of London. In fact, Alec wouldn't have thought much of it, had another, smaller figure not done the same thing just seconds later.
"Sorry," the young Anglo man said, thoughtfully catching Alec's arm so that he didn't fall, as he continued his ongoing conversation… to no one specific, "It's getting harder to keep up in the crowd. Does anyone else have her?"
Irritated by the impact, if appreciative of the passing concern for his safety, Alec turned to find the man looking back at him as well. Both seemed surprised at the other's attention; but the crush of people closed in between them quickly, as everyone continued on their way.
When the third person in less than a minute collided with him, Alec was both annoyed and now curious. That the Black woman hurried away in the same direction as the others, dodging on-comers, gave him the distinct impression that the three against-the-crowd walkers were somehow connected, and that something interesting was afoot.
Snapped, perhaps bruised, from his weary commute, Alec was intrigued. While only a copy clerk at the paper, he wanted to be a full-on investigative reporter; and following those professional instincts, he forgot the long day and looming dinner, and turned to follow.
Hurrying upstream, he finally reached the scattering edge of the crowd, and caught sight of the woman turning at mid-block. Careful not to hit any stragglers himself, he jogged to that corner and peaked around it. About three quarters of the way down the empty alley, the woman silently looked at some sort of device in her hands, before heading into a farther doorway.
Looking about to find no other apparent followers, Alec carefully picked his way down the alley, continuing his own entry in the chase. Following only the occasional click of heel on bricks, the whir of startled pigeons, and the echo of a heavy breathing, Alec knew he was still on the trail, but quickly was lost in what became a dim maze of tiny passages between the tall buildings.
Growing bolder, or perhaps more frantic, with each new twist and vacant passage, his careful steps were fast becoming long strides, and then a jog. The man who'd bumped him had been talking to someone; perhaps the woman with the radio. Why had they stopped talking now? Surely in these tight spaces, where the prey could disappear, or appear, around any corner and at any moment, the pursuers needed to coordinate all the more! And beyond the obvious thrill of the chase, why was he growing so tense despite nothing's having appeared?
Rounding the next corner, Alec first realized he'd reached a dead-end. He realized second, that he was not the only person to have done so. For between him and the high brick wall, was the broad back of the original runner to have bumped him on the street.
Turning as it sniffed the air, the figure's hood fell away, exposing the curved horns and flaring nostrils of a bull's head. On finding Alec between it and the only exit, the massive and entirely un-imaginary beast snorted, stomped, and then came barreling toward him.
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